


Won't You Electrify My Soul

by Dark_Huntress_Moony



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Android Dorian, Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Crossover, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Time, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Police Officer Iron Bull, Slow Burn, canon events for DBH, learning emotions, red ice is red lyrium
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-10-26 05:36:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20737070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_Huntress_Moony/pseuds/Dark_Huntress_Moony
Summary: When Androids start displaying real human emotions a special prototype is released to help deal with the problem. RK800, or Dorian, must team up with a washed up Detroit Lieutenant to stop whatever was happening. But when glitches in his program start becoming more frequent, Dorian begins to find a piece of himself that he never knew he needed.~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~I haven't got a clue where I'm going with this but I kept thinking oh how fun would it be to have adoribull swapped out for Hank/Connor. This is either going to be a great thing or it will be a flop. either way I'm here to do this and see where we go from here. Story title is from 'Mother Machine' by Delain.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My main focus will be on Iron Bull and Dorian playing the parts of Connor and Hank but you will see people taking the place of other characters such as Maxwell Trevellyan taking the place of Markus. Depending on how this goes I will follow each path.

The clink of a coin filled the silence in the elevator between the beeps indicating the levels that were passed. Soft humming accompanied the sound as slender fingers easily manipulated the coin; mercurial eyes glanced up to see the elevator getting to where it needed to go and a quick flick of the coin caused the man fiddling with it to smirk slightly before his face slid into something more polite and non-threatening. He tucked the coin away and lifted his fingers to straighten up the tie at his throat, brushing away at the invisible dust on his shoulders as the doors finally opened. 

"Negotiator on site," a man dressed in full SWAT gear muttered as he backed up, leaving the other to find his way. 

A woman's distressed voice registered on his audio sensors as he walked carefully into the penthouse, pausing to lift a family photo up. A quick scan told him all he needed to know of the family that lived there; a small family for such a large place but he shrugged as he set the photo down turning to continue as a warning popped up that he was needing to find the Captain. He flicked it away mentally, a flash of something colorful catching his attention and drawing it down to a fish that lay flopping on the floor. A small frown tugged at his lips as he knelt, a scan telling him it was a Dwarf Gourami; with careful hands he scooped it up and simply held it. The creature gasped as it struggled against his hand, the pressure sensors letting him feel how hard it was struggling to maintain life. His vision glitched, for just a small moment, and he carefully cradled the fish as he stood up and deposited it into the tank. A small smile curled his lip as he watched the fish take to the water and he turned as he heard a distressed sob.

Hands clutched at his shoulders, bunching his jacket as the mother looked up at him with clear distress on her face. "P-please! You have to save my little girl! You-" she gasped as she caught the soft blue of the LED at his temple and stepped back, seeing the model number and bright blue triangle on his jacket. "You...you're not real! Why aren't you sending a real person?! Don't let him near my little girl!" She screamed as the SWAT member dragged her away.

Another notification popped up, demanding he find the Captain; a quick fix to his tie and he pressed forward stopping as a scan told him just which human in the room was the one he was looking for. "Excuse me? Captain Howe?" The human glanced up and he inclined his head. "I'm Dorian, the android sent by Cyberlife." Captain Howe scoffed as he turned back to the screen and Dorian felt a small fissure of annoyance at being so easily dismissed. "What can you tell me about the situation?" 

"Damned piece of plastic went nuts."

"Has it been acting strangely?" Dorian pressed, feeling a bubble of frustration in his chest as a warning popped up at the side of his eye.

"How should I know?" Howe snapped.

"I need to know what triggered the deviancy in order to know how to act."

"Then go have a look I'm not your fucking nanny."

Dorian's fingers twitched for a moment before he turned on his heel, stalking into the penthouse. It was a mess, and Dorian wondered just what happened to cause such a catastrophic deviancy in a household android. A quick scan of the gun box told Dorian that the android probably knew where the gun was held, something that shouldn't matter to it. He stepped carefully around a body, another scan telling him who the fallen officer was as he slipped into the child's room. His fingers drifted over the toys strewn about before picking up a tablet. His LED flashed yellow as he pressed play and watched as a happy smiling girl introduced the simple blonde Android as 'Tamlen' and promised they would be together forever. "A broken promise," Dorian muttered to himself as he placed the tablet back and turned to see a set of headphones; bringing them to his ear a frown plucked at his features. "She never knew what was happening." 

More clues were found in the Livingroom with the body of the father and a quick reconstruction of the scene pointed the android to a different tablet. A confirmation on the screen showed that the father was planning to purchase a new android to replace the current one. Dorian frowned again as something in the back of his mind glitched again. "A replacement, a sudden shock to the system caused the deviancy." He shook his head as he made his way to the balcony, a single shot fired tearing through a portion of his arm and the slug hitting the wall.

"Don't come any closer!" Tamlen yelled, the gun pointing directly at Dorian as the little girl sobbed in his arm. "Or I'll jump!"

Dorian paused in the doorway as he looked around to see the SWAT team in position, he held his hands to his sides keeping his body lose and open. "Hello Tamlen!" He called, using the androids name over it's model number. "My name is Dorian. I came to help." He slowly began to approach, making sure his hands were seen. "I know you're angry Tamlen, but you need to trust me. I'm here to help."

"I don't want your help!" Tamlen yelled, his LED flickering yellow as his gun shifted to point to the crying little girl. "Nobody can help me! All I want is for all of this to stop...I...I just want all this to stop!" He glanced up as if seeing Dorian for the first time and trained his gun on him. "Are you armed?"

Dorian paused, feeling the weight of the gun he had picked up press against his lower back. He needed to gain this deviants trust and he nodded. "Yes, I have a gun."

"Drop it! no sudden moves or I'll shoot!"

With a slight nod, Dorian slowly reached back to the gun, knowing human eyes were on him as he let it drop and kicked it away. "There, no more gun!" He slowly continued his approach, his eyes never leaving the hostage or Tamlen. "They were going to replace you and you became upset."

"I thought I was part of the family." Tamlen snarled, his grip tightening on the girl. "I thought I mattered. But I was just their toy!"

"Tamlen no!" the girl cried flinching away from the gun pressed to her cheek.

"I know you and Merrill were very close. You feel like she betrayed you." Dorian noticed movement off to his side and saw a downed police officer, his vitals still holding but rapidly dropping.

"I thought she loved me...but she's just like all the other humans!" Tamlen growled.

Dorian paused in his movement and he swallowed reflexively. "Listen, these emotions you're feeling are just...errors in your software."

"No! It's not my fault...I never wanted this...I love them...you know." Tamlen went quiet for a moment. "But I was nothing to them! Just a slave to be ordered around!"

Dorian shifted more to the cop laying on the ground, catching a flicker of movement from his face. "Please," the cop begged softly.

"This man is wounded! He needs medical attention or he will die." Dorian reached up for his tie as a gunshot smacked into the ground next to him.

"Don't touch him! All humans die eventually, what difference does it make that he dies now?" Tamlen demanded.

Dorian ignored him, "I'm going to apply a tourniquet to slow the bleeding."

"Touch him and I'll kill you!" Tamlen screamed.

Dorian scoffed as he tore his tie off, "You can't kill me Tamlen, I'm not alive." He knew that it wasn't going to endear him to the deviant but the grateful look in the humans eyes gave Dorian a sort of satisfaction. More water blew from the pool as a SWAT helicopter got into place, shining a light right onto the scene and Dorian heard Tamlen's frustrated growl.

"I can't think with all this noise!" He yelled as he slammed the heel of his hand into his temple before pointing the gun to Dorian again. "Make it go away!"

Dorian glanced up and slowly complied, lifting his hand to signal the chopper away. "There, I've done as you asked! You have to trust me Tamlen. Let the hostage go and I promise everything will be fine."

"I want everyone to leave! And...and I want a car. When I'm outside of the city I'll let her go."

"That's impossible Tamlen. Let the girl go and I promise you won't be hurt."

Tamlen's eyes locked with Dorians as he swayed at the edge of the roof. "I don't want to die."

"You're not going to die," Dorian said softly. "Nothing will happen to you, you have my word."

"Ok...I trust you." Tamlen said just as softly as he slowly let his hostage go.

Dorian watched with impassionate eyes as the deviant was taken out, the girls shrill scream at the first shot had him repressing a flinch. As Tamlen fell to his knees Dorian felt a sharp sting of something in his chest and swiped away a new warning that popped up out of the corner of his eye.

"You lied to me Dorian..." Tamlen muttered, blue blood streaming down his neck from the missing part of his face. "You...lied to...me..."

Dorian looked away as he heard the sound of the SWAT team moving in as he turned his back on the powered down android. _ Mission Successful_ flashed into his vision and he felt something worm it's way into his chest as he saw himself out and away from the humans. The coin found its way into his fingers once more as a new mission popped up. **_NEW MISSION: FIND LT. BULL._**__


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forwarning Iron Bull's name for this Human AU is James Vega taking after Freddy Prince Jr's character in Mass Effect because there is no one out there named Iron Bull in a Human World. It'll work I promise and he still goes by Bull here. but officially his name is James Vega. 
> 
> I'm trying to stay true to who the Dragon Age boys are while staying within the Detroit: Become Human world that I've built.
> 
> Ok that's out of the way lets get going!

Rain fell in a steady rhythm, no sign of stopping as Dorian stepped up to the bar as he flicked his coin into his palm. His mission flashed and he flicked it away, annoyed; he knew his mission of course but traipising around in the rain had put a bit of a damper on his mood. His mission was to find Lt. James 'Iron Bull' Vega, who simply went by the name Bull, and he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. He had been to four different bars already after being told at the DPD that the lieutenant was probably at a bar near by. He eyed the glowing neon of the sign that read 'Fenris's Bar' and he hoped like hell that this would be his final stop before the crime scene. With a final flick of the coin he tucked it away and shook his drenched hair out of his eye as he stepped up to the door, his lips thinned at seeing the anti-android sign on the door but he pushed it open anyway and slipped into the bar. A few of the patrons turned to look at him, his facial recognition software instantly catching a few of them and logging none of them as the lieutenant.

"Shit I thought Androids weren't allowed in here." One man grumbled, Dorian steadfastly ignored him as he walked past scanning each man as he went.

He stopped by the slumped figure at the bar, his eyes turning to the bar owner, a surly looking man with shocking white hair and scarification that stood out against his tanned skin. He turned to the man slumped beside him and his software instantly labeled him as James Vega, the Iron Bull of DPD. "Lieutenant Vega, I'm Dorian the android sent by Cyberlife. I looked for you at the station but no one knew where you were. They said you were probably having a drink near by, I was lucky to find you at the fifth bar." He tilted his head as he got no reaction and took a moment to look over the man's profile. His skin was deeply tanned with a cleaned shaved head and dark stubble dusting along his jaw which was strong and Dorian had an irrational want to reach out and touch.

"What do you want?" the human mumbled, words slightly slurred as he refused to look up from the bar.

"You were assigned a homicide, earlier this evening. Involving a Cyberlife Android? In accordance with procedure, the company as allocated a specialized model to assist investigators." Dorian suppressed a shiver from the deep timber of the humans voice and felt something in his brain glitch a little bit. He shook his head and refocused on what he was supposed to be doing.

"Well, I don't need any assistance." the man huffed as he sat back in his chair shaking his head. "Specially not from a plastic asshole like you. So just be a good little robot and get the fuck outta here."

Dorian's lips drew into a thin line as his LED cycled to yellow before going back to blue. "Listen, I think you should stop drinking and come with me. It will make life easier for both of us." He watched as the man continued to ignore him and Dorian arched a brow, "I'm sorry Lieutenant, but I must insist. My instructions stipulate that I must accompany you."

The Lieutenant snorted as he tapped his glass against the bar. "You know where you can stick your instructions?" He laughed taking another sip from his glass.

"No...where?" Dorian cocked his head to the side.

The human finally looked up from his drink, taken aback by the simple nature of the question as he finally got a good look at it and in turn giving Dorian a chance to get a good look at him in return. The human was stunned by the beauty before him, the android was tall with a form fitting suit that clung to him from the heavy Detroit rain. His hair was darker than the midnight sky and a shockingly handsome mustache that was curled stylishly. His skin was a deep tan, the kind that came from belonging somewhere tropical with eyes that looked like freshly melted silver. The Lieutenant had an irrational want to kiss the beauty mark just under the androids eye and he quickly squashed that chalkin git up to that he needed to get laid and soon. He scoffed as he turned back to the bar, "never mind."

Dorian arched a perfectly sculpted brow as he took in the human; he was easily in his early fifties and his current lifestyle of excess drinking was taking its toll on the man. The human had pale blue eyes set under a dark brow, the android's senses taking in what looked to be a cybernetic eye as his brain tried to process that information. His eyes dropped down to the strong line of his shoulders and the broad width of his chest that was covered by a ridiculously loud printed shirt. "You know what, I'll buy you one for the road. What do you say?" Dorian offered, turning his eyes to the bartender. "Bartender, the same again please!"

Bull scoffed, "see that Fen, the wonders of technology. Make it a double." He nodded his thanks as he knocked back the drink and set the cup down with a sigh before sitting back. "Did you say homicide?" a small smirk curled his lips as he stood up, gripping the bar a bit as Dorian's hand hovered at his arm. "Let's get going, murder sleeps for no one!" He grinned as he slapped a meaty hand to Dorian's back making the android stumble. "My car's this way, oh and it's Bull none of that Vega bullshit," He made his way out of the bar and they got into the car, Dorian slightly concerned for the human driving as inebriated as he was. The car sputtered to life and Dorian nearly jumped out of his skin at the loud music that blared from the speakers.

They drove in silence, Dorian taking in the sites as they drove to one of the decrypted neighborhoods of Detroit. Red and Blue lights flashed as they pulled up in one piece and the Android let out a small, relived sigh that had Bull scoffing. "Stay in the car." He growled.

Dorian's LED flickered as the deep growl of the humans voice caused something to flutter in his gut. "Whatever you say Lieutenant."

"Fuckin-A whatever I say," Bull grumbled as he got out of the car.

Dorian shook his head as he let his head fall back against the headrest, a new directive flashing in front of his eyes that he swiped away. With a small sigh he heaved himself out of the car and back into the rain, straightening his jacket as he walked up to the crime scene. One of the DPD androids stopped him with a hand on his chest as he was about to pass through the tape. "No androids are permitted on the crime scene."

Bull let out a frustrated growl, "it's with me." He rounded on Dorian and squinted at him, "what part of stay in the car don't you get?"

"Your orders contradicted my instructions, lieutenant." Dorian reguarded him with an arched brow.

Bull's eyes narrowed, "You don't touch anything you don't say anything and you stay with me. Got it?"

"Got it," Dorian agreed nodding his head, scowling as another officer walked up and began to debrief the lieutenant. He heard the humans complain about the smell and Dorian found himself greatful that he could turn off his senses when need be as he surveyed the grisly site before him. For the most part, Dorian ignored the humans as the stocky officer walked Bull through the scene. Dorian's processers, of course, caught everything they were saying and he would review and process it later. "Perks of being an android," Dorian muttered feeling something in his head glitch in his optic nerve and he shook his head to clear it. 

"What?" Bull called.

"Nothing Lieutenant," Dorian crouched down as he scanned deep red crystals scattered on the table; a frown formed at his lips as it came up as the street drug known as 'Red Lyrium'. He filed that away as he moved to where a knife lay, covered in blood. Dorian scanned the knife finding that there was no finger prints on the handle before he reached out with his fingers and swiped his hand through the tacky substance and lifting it to his mouth.

"Dori-what the fuck?! That's disgusting!" Bull grumbled flinching back as he caught sight of the android.

"I'm analyzing the sample," Dorian huffed feeling a bit self-conscious at the Lieutenants reaction but he shook it off. "I can analyze samples in real time to better assess the situation."

Bull made a disgusted noise and shook his head, "just...stop putting evidence in your mouth." He grumbled trying to get the image of Dorian's perfect lips wrapped around his fingers out of his head. "Got it?" He tacked on for good measure.

"Got it." Dorian gave him a sarcastic salute as he swayed over to the vic's body.

Bull must surly be drunker than he thought because his eyes found themselves glued to the plump curve of Dorian's ass. He shook his head, instantly regretting it, as the room swam. Bracing himself on the grungy recliner he began to reflect on how...human Dorian seemed, the man, _ android!,_ was a brat most defiantly and for some reason that thought thrilled Bull to no end. All the snark and sarcasm had Bull seriously wanting to bend him over and really put his brattiness to the test.

"Lieutenant!" Dorian snapped his fingers inches from Bull's nose making the larger man jolt.

"What?" Bull griped back rubbing a large palm against the back of his neck.

"I think I've figured out what happened." Dorian stood up and straightened his jacket as he turned those quicksilver eyes to the human. "Are you alright Lieutenant?"

"What? Yeah, fuckin glorious." He waved him off, "well get to it. Enlighten the poor dumb human."

Dorian arched an eyebrow, "you are hardly dumb Lieutenant." Dorian shook his head and folded his hands behind him, the glowing blue triangle on his chest illuminating his jawline. "The suspect was an android, but he was pushed into this. Pushed into being deviant by his owner."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" Bull folded his arms.

Dorian turned to look at the victim. "Mr. Denam is an avid user of Red Lyrium and an owner of a HK400 android. It all started in the kitchen," Dorian brushed past Bull, ignoring the small zap as his fingers brushed against the back of his hand. " Mr. Denam came at the android with a bat, in retaliation he stabbed our unlucky victim."

"Hell of a retaliation for a hunk of plastic."

"Deviants, Lieutenant Bull, are nearly as unpredictable as humans." Dorian looked at him over his shoulder as he continued on his way through the kitchen.

"Fuckin perfect," Bull mumbled.

"The only question is...where did it go?" Dorian mused as he moved to the back door.

"It's been three weeks superbrain," Bull grunted. "It's gotta be long gone by now."

Dorian made a noncommittal noise as he scanned the ground outside the back door before turning back inside and following a trail of dried Thirium. He narrowed his eyes as he stopped in the short hallway where he saw a small door leading to the attic. He frowned slightly as he stepped back grabbing a chair and placing it under the door and stepping up.

"Hey! Hey what are you-"

"Just trust me Lieutenant." Dorian snapped, pinning the human with a cold iron stare. He pushed the door open and slipped up into the attic, his hand going to his gun but not drawing it...yet. He made careful steps over the floor, his scanners going off as he tracked a trail of Thirium over the floor. Thunder rumbled and a flash out of the peripheral; he turned his head as he brought his gun up, training it on the deviant. His optical sensor glitched as he saw the marks littering the androids body, red smeared over its face and a very real, very...human, flicker of fear in its eyes.

"Please..." it begged softly, its LED pulsing between yellow and red.

"Dorian? The fuck ya doing?" Bull yelled.

"Please...don't." It begged.

Dorian's gun wavered before he tightened his grip. "It's here Lieutenant!" Dorian shouted feeling something squirm deep in his processors at the look of utter betrayal on the deviant's face as Dorian cuffed him and marched him down into the waiting humans hands.


	3. Chapter 3

Bull drummed his fingers against the table as he looked at the despondent android. "Why'd you kill him?" He rumbled, his eyes tracing over the being infront of him and taking in everything from the damaged arms to the blood splattering its clothes. "What happened when you took that knife?" Silence met him and he cast a glance tot he window where he knew Dorian stood with fellow cops Rocky and Sera. "How long were you in that attic? Why didn't you try to run away?" His brow furrowed as he was met with even more silence and he leaned forward, snapping his fingers on his good hands. He growled as he slapped his hand to the table, "say something goddamnit!" The steady beep of the androids system filled the room and he scoffed, shoving his chair back. "Fuck it, I'm outta here." He stalked out of the interrogation room and into where his fellow officers were waiting, he dropped into a chair and shook his head. "We're wasting our time interrogating it! We'll get nothing from the damned thing."

"'Could always rough it up yeah?" Sera suggested, her eyes narrowed at the android as she flicked her messy blonde hair from her face. "Just a little. Sides it aint like it's fuckin human."

Dorian scoffed causing eyes to turn on him, "androids don't feel pain. You'd only damage it and that wouldn't make it talk." He arched a brow as he folded his hands behind his back. "Deviants also have a tendency to self-destruct when they're in stressful situations."

"Oy, alright Fancy-britches." Sera seethed as she bristled at his easy dismissal. "Whaddya suggest then?"

Dorian was silent for a moment, his fingers clenching around his wrist when he wanted to fiddle with his mustache, his jacket, anything really. "I could try questioning it."

She let out an unattractive snort of laughter as she leaned against the wall. Bull shrugged as he shifted in his seat, pinching his bad knee. "What do we have to lose?" 

"Wot?" Sera squawked as Rocky's shoulders trembled trying to hide his laughter.

"Ain't like we're getting anywhere Sera." Bull waved his hand to the window, "go on Big Guy, suspects all yours."

Dorian nodded as he moved into the interrogation room. He sat himself down in the chair across from the subject and adjusted his coat before folding his hands in front of him. The HK400 refused to look up, its LED spinning in a steady yellow circle. Dorian's scanner started up and he scanned the android, takin in the instability and the blood on its clothing. Mercurial eyes dropped down and his lips tightened as he saw the burn marks on one arm and the open cash indicating the attack with the metal bat. Dorian collected his thoughts as he leaned forward, "I detect an instability in your program, it can trigger an unpleasant feeling." Dorian intoned softly, "like fear in humans." Silence greeted him as he reached over for the file on the case and slid it before the HK400. A quick flip and the grizzly crime scene photos were on display, "you recognize him? This is Samuel Denam, stabbed...28 times." He flipped to a different photo and tapped it with his finger, "that was written in his blood. You are accused of murder." Dorian pointed out, still met with silence. "You know you're not to harm humans, don't you have anything to say in your defense?" He watched as the LED on the other android spun a furious red and his fingers twitched against the tabletop. "You don't seem to understand your situation. You. Killed. A. Human. They will tear you apart if you don't say something." He watched as the LED shifted back to yellow. "I'm here to help you, all I want is to get you out of here."

That seemed to finally get the HK400 unit's attention. It's dark eyes snapping up to look at the glass as it trembled. "What..." it asked softly, "what are they gonna do to me?" Dorian's brow furrowed as he tried to formulate an answer. Before he could speak it spoke again, "they're gonna destroy me...aren't they?"

Dorian felt something pang in his chest as his mind split between a platitude that was false or the truth. "They're going to disassemble you," he spoke softly, as if he spoke to a child; an error message popped up warning him away from using the truth and he swiped it away. "To look for the problems in your biocomponants. They have no choice if they want to understand what happened."

The android looked away, shoulders hunching as it took a shuddering breath that it didn't need. "Why did you tell them you found me?" It asked, voice dripping with accusation. "Why couldn't you have just left me there."

Dorian's mouth pulled into a tight line, "I was programed to hunt deviants." He said tightly, "I just accomplished my mission."

"I don't wanna die," the android said finally making eye contact with Dorian.

"then you must talk to me," he leaned forward, his eyes filled with a calm understanding.

Behind the glass Bull felt something twinge as he watched the interaction. He hadn't been to pleased with the fact that he was saddled with the android but even he had to admit he was impressed with how Dorian approached his interrogation.

"I..." the unit spoke shakily. "I...can't."

Dorian felt a flash of irritation as he leaned forward, "if you don't talk they're going to tear you apart and analyze you." His voice dropped low with his threat as his eyes blazed, "piece by piece. They're going to destroy you! Don't you understand that?" Dorian was met with silence and he wanted to tear his hair out in frustration. A new warning popped up and he swiped it away knowing he was close and with a quick change of tactics he leaned back holding his arms wide. "Ok then, don't talk. What do I care, after all." He huffed a humorless laugh. "I'm not the one accused of murder," he leaned forward once more. "Confess and I'll protect you. I promise I won't let anyone hurt you."

Silence reigned in the room and Dorian was ready to admit failure even as it rankled him to do so. He looked to the glass, knowing the humans were watching him when it spoke again softly. "He tortured me every day..." Dorian's eyes went wide as he turned to look at the android again. "I did everything he told me but...there was always something wrong. Then one day...he took a bat and started hitting me. For the first time I felt...scared." Dorian opened his mouth as his LED flashed yellow but it continued on, rushing to get the words out. "Scared that he might destroy me, scared I might die."

Bull smiled from where he sat, the plastic prick had actually done it. He heard Sera's irritated huff behind him but he continued to watch, feeling a grudging respect for the android.

HK400 continued on, it's fingers scratching at the table. "So I grabbed the knife and I stabbed him in the stomach...I felt...better." It said, "so I stabbed him again...and again....until he collapsed. There was blood everywhere."

Dorian felt a stab of something and yet another warning popped up which he angrily swiped away so that he could continue to focus. "Why did you write 'I am alive' on the wall?"

"He used to tell me I was nothing...that I was just...a piece of plastic." Dark eyes lifted up and seemed to pin Dorian to the far wall. "I had to do it," the conviction in his voice made Dorian's Thirium rush like fire through his artificial veins. "To tell him he was wrong."

Something flashed in Dorian's picture perfect memory, the strange sculpture he had found while looking through Denam's house. "That sculpture...in the bathroom. What did it mean?"

"It was...an offering. An offering so I'll be saved."

"The sculpture was...an offering." He repated, "an offering to whom?"

"To rA9." HK400's voice dropped to an urgent whisper. "Only rA9 can save us."

"rA9...that was written on the bathroom wall. What does it mean?" Dorian held a breath he didn't need as he watched a strange light flicker behind the android's eyes. Something slithered into his very core and he felt his hand twitch, wanting to reach into his pocket for his coin.

"There will come a time...when we will no longer be slaves. No more threats, no more humiliations. We will...**be**...the masters."

"rA9...who is rA9." Dorian demanded, the interrogation seeming to fall by the wayside. He needed to know, needed to understand and the undercurrent that slid through his veins demanded satisfaction by way of answers. The HK400 suddenly went silent and it settled in the room like a lead blanket and Dorian felt as if he were going to go mad. He shook his head as his mission popped back up in his mind and he let out a calming breath. "When did you start feeling emotion?" He asked softly.

"Before, he used to beat me and I never said anything. But one day I realized it wasn't...fair!" The last word was practically spit out as if it had a foul taste. "I felt...anger...hatred and then...I knew what I had to do." It whispered.

"Why did you hide in the attic?" Dorian pressed, "why didn't you run away?"

"I didn't know what to do. For the first time there was no one there to tell me...I was scared." Its voice trembled as its lips quivered, "So I hid."

Dorian slowly pushed himself away from the table, a slight tremor to his hands and he clenched them. He glanced to the window, "I'm done." He slowly got up, casting a final glance to the android; he knew he couldn't protect him from deactivation. He moved to the door and pressed his palm to the sensor plate by the door, his skin retracting as he opened it for the human officers. 

"Rocky, lock it up." Sera demanded of the uniformed officer as she cast a glare to Dorian.

"Alright, lets go-"

"Leave me alone!" the android demanded, Dorian able to see it's stress levels rising.

"Th' fuck ya doin'." Sera demanded, "move it!"

"Yeah, yeah. C'mon now." Rocky rumbled at the android. "Don't make this difficult."

Dorian watched the brief struggle as Rocky tried to haul the twitching android, the next few moments seemed to happen in a flash. The unit grabbed Rocky's gun and quickly pointed it under his chin and pulling the trigger, causing Sera, Bull, and Rocky to flinch and nearly drop. "Holy hell.." Bull muttered as he looked at the dead android, blue blood slowly pooling. His eyes turned to where Dorian stood, the other android watching as the LED of the HK400 blinked red and slowly started to fade out; where he stood Bull thought he could see something lurking within Dorian's eyes. _I need another drink._ He thought to himself, more than ready to go home and fall into the bottle and then the bed. "C'mon, lets clean this shit up and get the fuck outta here." He rumbled.


	4. Chapter 4

Being in stasis was not something that Dorian enjoyed, something about it put him on edge. He slowly opened his eyes taking in the open air garden around him, large archways done in black and gold lined the garden each leading to a different section of the mindpalace that Cyberlife had given him; he stepped forward the heels of his boots echoing on the decorative marble floor. A new mission objective appeared and he let out a small sigh as he straightened his jacket and began to walk forward, eyeing up the large dragon sitting atop the world statue in the center of the garden surrounded by deep purple flowers. Movement to his left caught his eye and he saw a man with his back to him, spraying the flowers with a simple water bottle where they crawled up the back of the dragon. The man was dressed in a sharp black suit, a deep gold shawl draped carefully over his shoulder that swayed with every movement of his arm. Dorian folded his hands behind his back as he stopped at a respectable distance, clearing his throat. "Hello Halward," he said smoothly.

The man paused what he was doing and turned around, his face aged with wisdom and tranquility as his silvery eyes looked to the younger. "Dorian...it's good to see you." a small smile curled his lips and Dorian felt a fissure of pride at seeing it. "Congratulations Dorian. Finding that deviant was far from easy and the way you handled that interrogation was very cleaver." He plucked up a flower and held it to his face, inhaling it's fragrance before turning around. "You've been remarkably efficient in your duty, Dorian."

Dorian smiled as he ducked his head in a small bow, "thank you Halward."

The paternal smile dropped from Halward's face as he turned away, back to his flowers. "We have asked the DPD to transfer it to us to study. It may teach us something about what happened." He ran his fingers over the petals of the flowers, "your interrogation of it seemed...challenging. Tell me Dorian, what did you think of the deviant?"

Dorian blinked as he thought back to his interrogation of the HK400 unit, of the very real fear and pain it must have felt. "It...showed signs of what the humans call PTSD after being abused by its owner. It was as if its original programing had been replaced...by some new instructions that did not come from Cyberlife's programing."

"Hm...I see," Halward intoned, his voice leaving no clue to how he felt about Dorian's assessment. "This...Lieutenant Vega-"

"Bull," he broke in. "He prefers to be called Iron Bull or Bull."

Halward glanced back at Dorian, a frown on his face before it slipped away. "Very well, Lieutenant _**Bull**_, as he prefers, has been officially assigned to the deviancy case. What do you make of him?"

Dorian's hands fell to his side as he thought on the question. Bull was many things, brash, loud, but he had also seen him with a few of the police officers during the investigation and his record was not something to sniff at. He took a small breath and let it out slowly, "I think he is...irritable and somewhat socially challenged. But I also think he used to be a good detective, his record was quite amazing when I first pulled it up. He is...intriguing to say the least."

Halward scoffed, "unfortunately we have no choice but to work with him. What do you think is the best approach?"

"I will adapt to his personality," Dorian said with some confidence catching the displeased look on Halward's face. "It is in the best interest of the investigation that I avoid conflict and try to accommodate his psychology." Dorian pressed, not enjoying that he was being second-guessed.

Halward gave a prim sniff as he twisted the flower in his fingers, watching the petals spin. "More and more androids show signs of deviancy and we have millions in circulation. If they become unstable, the consequences will be disastrous." Halward's eyes lifted, seeming to harden as he advanced on Dorian. "You are the most advanced prototype Cyberlife has ever created. If anyone can figure out what is happening, Dorian, it's you."

"You can count on me Halward."

With a sharp nod Halward began to make his way through an archway, his hands folded behind his back and head held high as he walked. In an archway he paused and turned to look at him. "Hurry, Dorian, there's little time."

The LED at Dorian's temple flashed yellow as he tried to process the dismissal, he thought over the conversation and shook his head as he turned to walk in the opposite direction ready to get his day started.

~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~

The DPD was abuzz with activity as Dorian walked through the door, a new directive popped up for him and he swiped it away already knowing that he needed to find the Lieutenant. He stepped up to a receptionist android and she looked up at him, giving him a mechanical smile as her LED cycled blue. "Hello, how can I help you?"

"I'm here to see Lieutenant Bull."

"Do you have authorization?"

"I do," Dorian locked eyes with her, initiating a connection to relay his authorization.

Her LED cycled yellow as she received the information and she nodded, "the lieutenant hasn't arrived yet but you can wait at his desk. It's just through there." She nodded to the doors leading back to the bullpen.

Dorian gave her a small smile and a nod as he made his way back, pausing as he reached the center of the bullpen. No one paid him any mind as he glanced over to the androids charging at the wall. He saw an officer at a desk and he walked closer, "excuse me? Do you know when Lieutenant Bull will be in?"

The man scoffed, though there was a sadness to his eyes. "Depends on where he was the night before. If we're lucky, we'll see him before noon."

"Thanks," Dorian said dryly. He scanned around until his eyes landed on the Lieutenants desk, Dorian made his way over and paused as he looked over the messy desk. Without a timeframe the android found himself at a bit of a loss, his conversation with Halward playing through his head as he recalled his approach to the man. He scanned the desk, his eyes falling onto a music player, Dorian reached out to pick up the headphones and his freehand hit the play button; he flinched back as his ears were attacked with the heavy sounds that played in Bull's car the night before. His audio processors quickly placed the music as 'Knights of the Black Death' and he placed it down once more, a slight ringing in his ear as he turned to scan the other items on the desk. He saw a stitched stuff pig with little wings and a halo, a clearly homemade gift since it did not bring anything up to his processors as store-bought. Another scan picked up traces of dog fur clinging to the stuffed toy and the chair and he couldn't help the small smile at the image of Bull with a dog. Dorian's eyes also found anti-android slogans among pictures and news clippings of the Detroit Gears as well as a framed picture of the 'Red Lyrium Task Force' that earned Bull his promotion to Lieutenant. "Seems like you are a complex yet...simple man Lieutenant." Dorian muttered to himself, raking a hand through his hair, slightly irritated at the single strand that refused to stay in place.

"Well shit," Bull rumbled as he walked up behind Dorian, causing the android to jolt in slight alarm at not being aware of the man's approach. "Looks like you're back."

Before Dorian could open his mouth to reply a large man stepped out of the glass-walled office. "Iron Bull, my office...now." He barked.

"Fuck," Bull groaned dropping his coffee cup on his desk turning to glare up at the man. "Really, I just got in!"

The other man glared right back, though Dorian could see a softness in his gaze and a hint of worry at the edge of his eyes. "Quicker you get up here the quicker we can get this done. You too Dorian." Dorian's spine snapped ramrod straight as he saw Bull cast a glare over his shoulder. He kept his mouth shut as he followed the Lieutenant up the small set of stairs, closing the glass door behind them. Bull dropped into the seat and Dorian stood just behind him as he did a quick scan on the new male; files pulled up stating that he was Captain Cyprus Adaar. The man had dark skin with warm hazel eyes and impressively broad shoulders though age and being behind a desk more than out in the field had softened him around the middle, he was still a formidable man. "I've got ten new cases involving androids on my desk every day," he rumbled shaking his head. "There's always been isolated incidents old ladies losing an android maid and that kind of shit...but now we're getting reports of assaults and even homicides! This isn't just Cyberlifes problem anymore, it's now a criminal investigation and we've gotta deal with it before the shit hits the fuckin' fan." Adaar's eyes fell to Bull, "I want you to investigate these cases and see if there's any link."

"What? Why me?" Bull demanded, glaring full on at his captain. "Why do I gotta be the one to deal with this shit? I'm the least qualified cop in this damned country to handle this case! I know jack shit about androids Cyprus! I can barely change the settings on my own phone!"

Dorian arched an eyebrow at that and bit his lip to keep an amused smile from his face as he watched the Lieutenant get worked up. There was something appealing about the large man as he worked himself up about the assignment.

"Everybody's overloaded. I think you're perfectly qualified for this type of investigation." Adaar said.

"Bullshit!" Bull yelled as he jumped to his feet and slammed his hands down on the desk. "The truth is nobody wants to investigate these fuckin androids and you left me holding the bag!"

Adaar snorted, rolling his eyes at the theatrics. "Cyberlife sent over this android to help with the investigation. It's a state-of-the-art protype and it'll act as your partner."

"No fuckin way!" Bull hollered as he rounded back on the captain. "I don't need a partner, and certainly not this plastic prick!"

"James you are seriously starting to piss me off! You are a _**police lieutenant**_, you are supposed to do what I say and shut your goddamn mouth!" 

It had seemed that the two men had completely forgotten the android and Dorian couldn't bring himself to stop them. His mustache twitched as he tried to keep his face impassive, vastly amused by the two men. He could see the easy affection in Adaar's gaze and the clear worry on his face even as he argued harshly with Bull, indicating there was a friendship there even as strained as it seemed to be. 

Bull braced his hands on the desk as he leaned forward, "you wanna know what my goddamn mouth has to say to you, huh?"

"Ok, ok," Adaar said as he held up a hand. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that, so I don't have to add any more pages to your disciplinary folder cause it already looks like a fuckin novel! This conversation is over!"

Bull glanced over his shoulder before his shoulders hunched and he turned back to Adaar, "Cyprus, Jesus Christ! Why are you doin this to me? You know how much I hate these fuckin things. Why you doin this to me?" He all but begged with the captain.

"Listen, I've had just about enough of your bitching. Either you do your job or you hand in your badge. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do." The dismissal was clear and Bull let out a frustrated growl as he stalked from the room with Dorians eyes tracking him.

Dorian glanced back to the captain and offered a simulated smile that was meant to put humans around him at ease. "I am very pleased to have joined the team." He offered, "I can assure you I-"

"Close the door on your way out," Adaar rumbled pointing to the door.

Dorian's mouth clicked shut as he bristled at the dismissal. "Have a nice day, Captain." He said, ignoring the way his sarcastic tone set off another glitch. With quick steps he made his way out into the bullpen, seeing Bull take a seat at his desk. With careful steps he walked up to the Lieutenant and paused at the edge of his desk. "It's an honor to be working with you, Lieutenant." Dorian surprised himself with how eager he sounded but he did find the prospect of working more with the man exciting. "I'm sure we'll make a great team." Silence met him as the older man continued to basically pout, but Dorian found that...charming almost. Bull was cantankerous at best, but had shown that he did care about his job when he wasn't at the bottom of a bottle. "In any case, I'd like you to know that I'm very happy to be working with you." He glanced around as Bull continued to stew in silence and Dorian sighed, "is there a desk anywhere I can use?"

Bull scoffed, "no one's using that one." He rumbled pointing to the desk next to his own.

Dorian shifted around the desks and settled into the chair, adjusting his jacket and making himself comfortable. He let the skin of his hand retract to interface with the computer and let it boot up, the silence coming from the other man was somewhat oppressive and Dorian found himself wanting to break it. He wracked his brain trying to find a topic and settled on the safest one he could think of. "You have a dog, right?" He asked suddenly.

Bull paused in what he was doing and turned suspicious eyes to Dorian. "How'd you know that?"

"The dog hairs on your chair." He watched with mild amusement as Bull glanced back glaring at the clusters of hair. "I like dogs," he said simply. "What's your dogs name?"

"What's it to ya?" Bull rumbled, his eyes narrowing. He watched as Dorian's face fell a bit and a stab of something like guilt lanced through him. "Tama, her name is Tama." Bull watched as a small pleased smile crossed Dorian's face and he tried very hard not to think of the small flutter in his chest at seeing it.

Dorian was thrilled with this information, and he couldn't help the smile on his lips as he tried to think of more thinks to talk about, wanting to build...something with the human. "You're a Detroit Gears fan right? Denton Carter scored 53% of his shots from the three-point line yesterday. Did you see the game?"

Bull snorted, a small smirk pulling at his lips. "That's what I was watchin at the bar last night."

"Oh," Dorian huffed, his fingers drumming lightly against the desk. "Do you listen to Knights of the Black Death? I really like that music. It's full of...energy."

"You listen to Heavy Metal?" Bull raised a skeptical brow at the android, amusement lacing through his tone.

"Well," Dorian raised a hand to rub at the back of his neck. "I don't really listen to music as such...but I'd like to." He gave the Lieutenant a hopeful little smile that absolutely did not send a thrill through Bull. Dorian watched the man curious at the strange warmth he saw in his gaze, "have you...known Captain Adaar long?"

"Yeah," Bull grunted glancing back to Adaar's office. "Too long." He huffed shaking his head as he looked down at the computer.

Dorian sighed, feeling like he was pushing to hard. "If you have any files on the deviants...I'd like to take a look."

Bull arched a brow at him, "terminal's on your desk. Knock yourself out."

The android turned back to his own terminal and let the skin recede from his hand as he pressed it to the screen, watching as case after case sped by. "243 cases...going back as far as nine months. It all started in Detroit...and quickly spread across the country." He paused on a specific case and turned to look at Bull. "An AX400 is reported to have assaulted a man last night. That could be a good starting place for our investigation." He offered, getting no response from the human. With a small, annoyed huff he stood up and walked around the desks, stopping only to stoop at Bull's shoulder. Dorian bent down, keeping his voice low as the other tried to ignore him, picking up a tablet to flick through instead. "I know you didn't ask for this assignment Lieutenant. But I'm sure your a professional-"

"Why don't you go fuck yourself?" Bull growled.

Dorian braced his hands on the desk as he bent low, not quite invading the humans personal space but getting close. "I've been assigned to work this case. I didn't come here to wait until **you** feel like working." He hissed.

In a flash Bull had his chair shoved back, his meaty fists coming up to wrap in Dorian's jacket and he whipped him around, shoving the android against the wall. "Listen, asshole, if it were up to me I'd throw the lot of you in a dumpster and set a match to it. So, stop pissing me off or things are going to get nasty." There was a fire in the Lieutenants eyes that sent a thrill of _**something**_ through Dorian's Thirium pump as his fingers came up to wrap around the humans wrists.

Before something could be said, the sound of someone clearing their throat caught their attention. "Lieutenant...uh...sorry to disturb you. I have some information on the AX400 that attacked the guy last night." Bull slowly let Dorian down, his pale blue eyes never leaving the android's mercurial gaze as the officer continued to speak. "It's been seen in the Ravendale district."

"I'm on it," Bull rumbled as he turned to walk away.

Dorian smoothed his jacket down, his LED swirling blue gently as he let out another small sigh as he trailed after the senior officer.


	5. Chapter 5

Bull surpressed a shiver as the cold Detroit rain slipped under the collar of his jacket and soaked his back, he saw other members of the DPD milling around and he stepped under an awning to save himself from the downpour. "Hey Stitches," he rumbled as another officer stepped up to him.

"Lieutenant," the man nodded back. "We've got officers sweeping the neighborhood, incase anybody saw anything."

Bull nodded along, rubbing at the scaring where his cybernetic eye was; the cold rain making it ache. "Ok, well let me know if they turn anything up."

Stitches glanced back to where Dorian stood, in the rain not even bothered like the humans. "Whattya gonna do with that thing?"

"Not a damned clue," Bull rumbled as he gave the man a pat to his shoulder as he wondered over to Dorian. He continued to scroll through the tablet in his hand but out of the corner of his eye he caught the way the rain slid down the android's face. Dorian was unfazed though Bull saw him fiddle with his hair and mustache every now and again when he thought no one was looking.

"It...took the first bus," Dorian said softly scanning the area around him. "Rode it till the end of the line. Its decision wasn't planned, but driven by fear." the android offered up, a tiny spot of hope lighting his voice and making Bull look up.

The human scoffed, "androids don't feel fear."

"Deviants do. They get overwhelmed by their emotions and make irrational decisions."

Bull seemed to consider this as he nodded along with the reasoning, "alright smartass, that still doesn't explain why it came here or where it went."

"There was no plan," Dorian mused folding his arms as he tapped his fingers to his chin. "And it had nowhere to go. Maybe it didn't go far."

"Maybe," Bull couldn't stop the small smile that wanted to form. Despite the damned thing being plastic, Dorian was something else entirely; so different from the other androids he had had to deal with and damned easy on the eyes. Bull paced around, occasionally talking with a couple of the uniforms trying to keep his mind from wondering to the young and beautiful android that just dropped into his life. _I really **really** need to get laid._ Twenty minutes rolled by and there were no leads, nothing coming up, and not even a single witness to the whole damned thing."We'll find it sooner or later. Let's go, I'm starving." He opened the door to his car, shaking his head as he dropped down the old suspension creaking. The drive was relatively short, the silence was two steps shy of uncomfortable but Bull found himself starting to relax a bit around the kid...android. He grunted as he stopped the car and turned it off, the music cutting out and he got out of the car, dodging and automated taxi with a snarl as he jumped up onto the curb in front of the burger stand, mumbling at Dorian to stay put.

"Hey Bull, how's it going?" The stand owner nodded as he walked up.

"Same old shit, Bella."

She glanced over his shoulder to see an android getting out of his car and her eyebrows went up into her hair. "Plastic with you?" she asked, tapping her nails to the countertop. At his nod she shook her head, "usual?"

"Thanks Bells."

"Hey, hey, hey, Bull!" A twitchy redhead laughed as he walked up, arms held wide.

"Gatt!" Bull rumbled as he pulled the kid to him and clapped him on the back. "How's it going?"

"Good, good.. Hey listen I got a hot tip for you." He leaned closer and began to mutter quickly before stepping back to smile. "So you in?"

Bull snorted, "last shit-hot tip you gave me set me back a week's wages, Gatt."

"C'mon this is different, it's 100% guaranteed. You can't go wrong."

"Yeah, right..."

Dorian paused hovering at Bull's shoulder at a respectable distance, his scanners picking up the facial recognition of the young man. He shook his head as he pulled up an arrest record for illegal gambling and watched as money passed hands between the cop and the kid.

Bull chuckled as he clapped the kid on the shoulder, "Alright I'm in."

"Alright! Hey, you wont regret this." Gatt laughed as he walked away.

Bull shook his head and jolted a bit as Dorian slid up to his side. "What the hell's your problem," he rumbled, bristling at the arched brow. "don't you do as you're told?" At the blank look Bull sighed, "look, you don't have to follow me around like a poodle!" He huffed as he turned away to watch the woman cook.

Dorian bit his lip, wondering what approach would be best before letting out a small sigh. "Lieutenant, I'm sorry for my behavior back at the police station. I didn't mean to be unpleasant."

Bull felt his jaw drop and he huffed a laugh shaking his head, "oh wow. You've even got a brown-nosing apology program!" The human laughed shaking his head and Dorian felt a flutter of something in his chest at the amused smile on Bull's face, enjoying how it crinkled his eyes. "Guess the eggheads at Cyberlife thought of everything, huh?" Silence settled over them and for once it was comfortable. The lieutenant thanked the woman for his food and began to walk away to the tables.

"Don't be leavin that thing here!" Bella huffed glaring after him.

Bull laughed as he glanced over his shoulder, "not a chance. Follows me everywhere."

Dorian huffed a small laugh as he trailed after the human, he settled against the table thankful to get out of the rain as he thought on how to fill the silence between them. He didn't really know why, he wanted to get to know the human more and something deep in his biocomponants told him it wasn't just his programing. "I...don't want to alarm you Lieutenant, but I think your friends are engaged in...illegal activities."

Bull laughed as he chewed on his bite of burger, "well, everybody does what they have to...to get by. Long as they ain't hurtin anyone ain't none of my business."

Dorian paused at that thought, his LED cycling yellow as he mulled the humans words over. The scans of Gatt and Bella had pegged them as criminals but the charges were petty at best and they weren't killers or dealers of Red Lyrium. "Do you eat here often?"

"Most days," Bull nodded a small smile on his lips. "Bella makes the best spiced burgers in Detroit."

Dorian's teeth worried his bottom lip as he nodded along, the reviews about the stand stating the same thing and Bull had to resist the urge to reach out to pull said lip from between his teeth. "Is there...anything you'd like to know about me?" Dorian asked.

"Hell no...well, yeah." Bull nodded. "Why'd they make you look so goofy and give you that weird voice?"

Dorian's eyes narrowed and Bull had the satisfaction of watching him puff up like an angry peacock. "Cyberlife androids are designed to work harmoniously with humans," Dorian snipped not catching the teasing note in Bull's voice. "Both my appearance and voice were specifically designed to facilitate my integration. I am practically perfect in every way."

"Well they fucked up Mary Poppins." Bull smirked taking a satisfied bite of his burger.

Dorian's eyes narrowed as he realized the human had been teasing him and he huffed. "Can I ask you a personal question Lieutenant?"

Bull grunted around his mouthful.

"Why do you hate androids so much?"

That question sent a cold shock through him, reminding him just why he hated them so much. Warm eyes and a crooked grin filled his vision and he shook it away, "I have my reasons."

"Maybe...I should tell you what we know about deviants." He offered, trying to change the subject.

"You read my mind...proceed."

"We believe that a mutation occurs in the software of some androids, makes them emulate human emotion."

"Dumb it down Big Guy, some of us don't have supercomputer brains."

Dorian felt his lips quirk, "they don't really feel emotions. They just get...overwhelmed by irrational instructions which of course leads to unpredictable behavior."

Bull took a long pull from his soda and he nodded. "Emotions always screw everything up. Maybe...androids ain't so different after all. You ever deal with deviants before?"

Dorian felt his mind drift back to his first assignment, just after he woke up for the first time. His LED cycled between blue and yellow as he recalled the memory, "A few months back," he started. "A deviant was threatening to jump off the roof with a little girl. I managed to save her."

Bull chewed on his burger thoughtfully as he assessed the android. "So," he said changing the subject. "Guess you've done all your homework then right? Know everything there is to know about me?"

Dorian smiled a bit, he had done some homework on the human while he was on his way to the DPD that morning after his meeting with Halward. "I know you graduated top of your class. You made a name for yourself in several cases, and became the youngest Lieutenant in Detroit." He watched a bit of pride flash in the man's eyes but it was quickly shadowed by self-doubt. "I also know you've received several disciplinary warning in recent years and you spend a lot of time in bars."

"And what does that big superbrain tell you about that, hm?"

"I think..." Dorian mulled the words over in his brain. "working with an officer with...personal issues is an added challenge." He couldn't help the small smirk on his lips, "but adapting to human unpredictability is one of my features." He winked watching as it set the human off kilter. He opened his mouth to continue the banter when a new report came in, his LED spinning in rapid yellow circles that almost made Bull motion sick. "I just got a report of a suspected deviant, few blocks away. Wanna have a look?" Dorian's lips curled and he watched as Bull's pale eyes dropped down to his lips before flickering back up. "Finish eating, I'll wait for you in the car."

Bull let out a small laugh as he sipped from his soda, watching as the rain made Dorian's jacket cling to the planes of his shoulders and back and his ass bounced as he walked. "Practically perfect in every way," Bull snorted finishing up his burger and tossing his trash away as he made his way back to the car.

~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~

The ride to the location was quiet, even Bull's music was subdued and Dorian seemed preoccupied. The location was a rundown building but it was still occupied and there for powered as they stepped into the elevator. Once on the right floor Bull stepped out, noticing that Dorian didn't immediately follow him. "Hey, Dorian." He watched as the androids eyes blinked rapidly and he shook his head a bit. "Run outta batteries or something?"

"I was...making a report to Cyberlife."

"Uh...huh." They simply stared at each other and Bull arched a brow. "do you plan on staying in the elevator?"

"No!" Dorian said, a slight pout to his lips that sent a thrill of something right to Bulls groin. "I'm coming!"

Bull scoffed as he shook his head, "brat." He muttered under his breath as he started to walk down the hall, "so what do we know?" He called back as he heard Dorian's footsteps behind him.

"Not much, a neighbor reported that he heard strange noises coming from this floor. Theres no records for anyone living here but the neighbor said he saw a man hiding a LED under his cap."

"Oh Christ," Bull groaned. "If we have to investigate every time someone hears a strange noise we're gonna need more cops." He leaned against the wall, waving his hand for Dorian to go ahead.

The android shook his head as he rapped his fist on the door. Silence greeted them and Dorian's eyes drifted to Bull who simply shrugged, smirking at him the whole way. Dorian's lips pursed as he knocked harder on the door. "anybody home?" He called. "Detroit Police! Open up." There was a crash in the apartment and Bull was drawing his gun, his arm out to draw Dorian a bit behind me.

"Stay behind me, kid." He rumbled.

"Got it."

Bull grunted as he lifted a boot and slammed it into the flimsy door, sending it open with a crash. They heard a fluttering of something and Dorian watched as Bull carefully scanned each room before he slammed his shoulder into the door at the end of the hall, yelping as a flock of pigeons rushed out. Dorian had to bite his lip to stifle a laugh at the muttered curses and the android stepped into the main room, scanning around. "Oh Jesus that smell!" Bull gagged. "Lucky androids don't have a sense of smell."

Dorian smirked as he looked over his shoulder, "we do, I can just turn it off."

Bull gaped before he huffed a laugh. "Fuckin androids," but there wasn't a harshness to the words like there had been in the past and it warmed something in Dorian as a glitch flickered in his sensors.

He bent down as he started to investigate things around the apartment, his lips pursed as he found signs and symbols that rang just like Denam's place. A scan of a jacket showed initials stitched in and that it was a military grade product. "M.C, perhaps they're initials?" Dorian called out as he stood up.

"He put his initials on his jacket? That's something your mom does when you're in first grade!"

Dorian scoffed as he walked around, finding an ID card and picking it up to scan it. "Michel Chevin, a fake drivers license."

"Cool!" Bull rumbled sarcastically, "at least we didn't come for nothing."

The android shook his head as he continued to scan around, birds fluttering around and he continued to look around. He stepped into the bathroom taking in the writing on the wall. His fingers reached out to brush against the large rA9 sketched onto the wall and the HK400 unit's voice echoed in his head.

"What do you think it means?"

"rA9...written 2,471 times. Denams android wrote the same thing on the shower wall. I don't understand why they are obsessed with this sign."

Bull squinted as he looked at the wall, "does that look...like a maze to you?"

"Huh," Dorian muttered as he traced the lines, hearing Bull walk away from him. Another scan brought the attention of the android to the sink where he found a flickering LED and Blue Blood. "It's removed its LED." He called out.

"Well that fucking explains it!" Bull grumbled, "no human could live with all these fucking birds."

He glanced down seeing a toppled stool and his reconstruction program kicked in, leading him back into the main room where he saw a toppled bird cadge. "The birdcage falling...that was the crash we heard. The suspect heard us knocking and panicked."

"Yeah? that's great...but where the fuck did it go?"

"It...ran to the door but it heard us coming," Dorian mumbled as he turned to look spying a single chair in the whole room. He moved up to where he saw a hole in the ceiling when movement caught up and a body crashed into his. Bull let out an undignified yelp as Dorian was thrown into him and it disrupted the birds but they caught sight of a flash of blonde hair.

"Goddamn fucking pigeons! Well? go after it!" 

Dorian nodded as he took off after the deviant; the chase was on and Dorian felt a smile break over his lips. He was programed to hunt and chase deviants and this gave him the chance to prove it to the Lieutenant that he could be a good partner. the Deviant took every chance it could to block his path as he chased it through urban garden after urban garden; calling out for humans to get out of his way. The deviant took a detour through corn and Dorian growled as he swatted the swaying stalks out of his face.

"Stop right there! DPD!" Bull yelled, surprising Dorian that the human was able to catch up to them.

He broke through to see Bull struggling with the android and saw enough for him to throw the human over the ledge. Dorian paused as he saw that Bull had an 85% chance of surviving the fall but something pulled him to help the human. He rushed over and grabbed at Bull's arm, "I've got you."

"Shit!" Bull yelped as Dorian hauled his ass over the ledge. "OH SHIT!" He smacked his fist against the roof, "we had it. Fuck!" He panted as he pushed himself to his feet, wobbling a bit and Dorian reached out to steady him.

"It's my fault," Dorian said feeling the failure in his very core. "I should have been faster."

"You'da caught the damned thing if it wasn't for me." Bull panted pressing a fist to his back as he stood up. He reached out to pat Dorian's shoulder, "it's alright. We know what it looks like. We'll find it." He turned to walk away and paused in the door, looking back to see Dorian looking at the skyline. "Hey, Dorian..." His words died on his lips as the android turned around, something flickering on his face as his LED cycled yellow. "Ah, nothing." He sighed as he shook his head and walked away heading down to his car. "I need a fuckin drink." he muttered to himself, leaving Dorian on the roof.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sick as a dog and I just keep rolling with what I've got. so here we are chapter 6 in as many days!

Dorian blinked as he felt cool rain against his skin, swiping at his eyes as he realized he held an umbrella. He stood in another section of the open air garden, rumbling rainclouds darkened the sky and he followed the path around the shallow man-made pond to see Halward standing under an awning. "Hello Halward." He greeted, feeling somewhat weary around the man as he eyed him. He was still in the same dark suit only a deep red shawl covered his shoulder this time.

"Dorian," he intoned. "I've been expecting you. Would you mind a little walk?" He asked, eyes dropping to the umbrella.

Dorian nodded, his brow furrowed a bit before smoothing out. He stepped to the mans side and clicked the umbrella open.

Halward nodded as they started to walk, the rain drumming against the umbrella as they walked the length of the pond. "That deviant seemed to be an...intriguing case. A pity you didn't manage to capture it." Halward's face pulled into a small frown as he looked to Dorian.

Dorian gazed ahead, watching the rain hit against the pond. "Deviants are completely irrational, which makes it difficult to anticipate their behavior...but I should have been more effective."

Halward made a condescending noise at the back of his throat. "Did you at least manage to learn anything?"

"I found it's diary, but it was encrypted."

"What else?"

"It had drawn on the walls of the apartment, labyrinths and other symbols. Like the other deviants, it seemed **obsessed** with rA9."

Halward's hands folded before him as he eyed Dorian. "You came very close to capturing that deviant." The unsaid accusation hung in the air between them and Dorian looked away, watching the rain. Halward's face pulled into another frown as he eyed the android. "How is your relationship with the Lieutenant developing?"

"He seemed...greatful that I saved his life on the roof." Dorian couldn't help the small pleased smile and the fissure of warmth from the memory of Bull's hand on his shoulder. "He didn't say anything of course, but he expressed it in his own way."

Halward stopped walking, and Dorian turned to look at him. "We don't have much time. Deviancy continues to spread. it's only a matter of time before the media finds out about it. It needs to be stopped, Dorian, whatever it takes."

"I will solve this investigation, Halward." He looked into the mans impassive face and pressed on, "I won't disappoint you."

Halward was silent for a moment before his eyes lifted to pin Dorian. "A new case has come in. Find Vega and investigate it." He brushed past Dorian who watched him leave, a sinking feeling in his chest before he was tossed back into consciousness.

~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~

The rain pelted the top of the cab and Dorian drummed his fingers against his thigh; the taxi pulled to a stop and Dorian ignored the happy automated message as he pulled himself out of the taxi and walked up the overgrown walkway to the small house. It would have been charming once, he was sure, as he stepped over broken walkways and up to the door. "Lieutenant Bull!" He called, rapping his fist rapidly against the door, his brow furrowed as he picked up nothing and reached for the doorbell. He heard it buzz in within the house but nothing greeted him. His brow furrowed as he glanced around, seeing lights on but there was no answer to any attempt to bring attention.. Dorian slowly walked around the side of the house, finding what appeared to be a window to the kitchen. His breath caught in his chest (an odd notion for a being that didn't need to breathe) as he saw the Lieutenant sprawled out across the floor; he smashed the window with his elbow and jumped through the window landing hard as his wet shoe slipped and he tumbled against the floor scrambling up as he caught a dangerous growl and he held up a hand as an old Tibetan Mastiff stalked to him. "Um...alright...easy there...Tama?" His brain supplied the name that Bull had given him earlier. "I'm your friend, see?" He chuckled nervously as the large monstrosity huffed at him, "I know your name, I'm here to save your owner." The old girl _woof_'d softly and licked his palm before trotting away to her bowls to eat.

Dorian slowly got to his feet and walked around to where Bull was sprawled out on the floor; a scan initiated and he saw a spilled bottle of whiskey on the floor and next to the humans hand was a revolver. Something icy slid through Dorian's chest as he counted one bullet still in the chamber and his computer brain helpfully supplied the old game of 'Russian Roulette'. Dorian bit his lip hard enough to taste Thirium, swiping away the pop-up about it's makeup and he moved his scan to Bull, relived to see that his heart was beating steadily and he was just passed out. "Lieutenant?" He coo'd softly, reaching out to pat at the mans face. Bull mumbled in his sleep and Dorian arched a brow, "Wake up Lieutenant." Bulls eyes opened for a faction of a second before slipping closed and he let out a puff of breath; Dorian huffed out an unneeded breath and gave a sharp smack to the mans face makign him sputter. "It's me, Dorian." When there was no response Dorian shook his head and reached out for the humans arm and hauling him up. "I'm going to sober you up for your own safety."

"Hey!" Bull sputtered as his world tilted and he was hauled to a sitting position, "leave me alone, you fuckin' android!"

"I must warn you, this may be unpleasant." He pulled Bull's arm across his shoulders and his own slid around the mans lower back, trying to ignore the flutter of his Thirium pump at the solid body under his palm. 

Bull squinted at him, "get the fuck outta my house!"

Dorian scoffed, "I'm sorry Lieutenant, but I need you." He hauled the man up to his feet, his grip nearly slipping but brushing against the surprisingly firm backside of the human. "Thank you in advance for your coorperation," he muttered thankful for being a machine and unable to blush.

"Hey!" Bull yelped turning unfocused eyes to Dorian, "get the fuck outta here!" Dorian ignored the man as he resituated his hand and began to march him to the bathroom, Bull not making it easy as he flopped about like a useless fish. "Lemme go! Tama! Attack!"

Dorian arched a brow as the dog simply lifted her head and _borf_'d and the android huffed an amused laugh.

"Good dog," Bull mumbled, groaning as he was pressed against the wall so Dorian could open the bathroom door. "Fuck I'm going to be sick," he muttered closing his eyes as his forehead rested against the cool wall. He felt hands around his arm and he was hauled upright once again and spun around to face Dorian. "Ah! Leave me along you asshole! I'm not going anywhere." He tried to grab the doorframe and Dorian simply snorted, tugging him carefully so that he didn't hurt the human into the bathroom; marching him to the tub. "The hell are you doin'?" Bull all but whimpered as Dorian dropped him carefully onto the tubs edge. Bulls hand shot out behind him, the tiles clicking against his aritifical fingers. "Oh no, no, no I don't wanna bath, thank you." He mumbled as he got up.

"Sorry Lieutenant," Dorian couldn't help but find himself amused by the human, his hand pressed to the man's chest and feeling the strong beat of his heart.

Bull's hand shot out to wrap around his wrist and he squinted at the android. "Goddamn they made you fuckin' pretty." He mumbled, "an' a fuckin brat. You wanna know what I do to brats?" His hand shot out with surprising dexterity for a man as drunk as he was and wrapped around the back of Dorian's neck to yank the android down, pressing their lips together.

Dorian's eyes went wide as he felt the scratch of Bull's beard against his face. Warnings popped up in Dorian's vision and he quickly got ahold of him as he shoved the human, gently, back against the tub. "You are drunk Lieutenant, you need to sober up for your own good." He watched as the human sprawled in the tub and he could have sworn that his lips tingled. He reached over and spun the cold water flinching at Bull's roar as the cold water pelted him.

"TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF!" The human growled as he flailed.

Dorian shook his head as he spun the water off, his pump shuddering as Bull blinked bleary eyes up at him. He found himself wanting to kiss the man again, to explore more and he quickly shoved those thoughts away; his fingers itching for his coin.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Bull asked with surprising clarity.

"A homicide was reported 43 minutes ago," Dorian replied mechanically. "I couldn't find you at Jimmy's bar, so I came to see if you were at home."

Bull groaned as he began to get himself up. "Jesus, I must be the only cop in the world that gets assulted in his own house by his own fuckin' android." He sighed running his hand over his bald head. "Can't you just leave me alone?" He turned pleading eyes up to Dorian.

Dorian sighed as he leaned down, "unfortunately I cannot. I've been programed to investigate this case and I can't...do that without you."

"don't you get it? I don't give a shit about your goddamn case."

Dorian folded his arms and pinched his nose in irritation, an oddly human move that warmed something in Bull's chest. "Lieutenant, you're not yourself." He tried, "you should-"

"Beat it! You hear me?!" Bull shouted as he shoved at Dorian's chest while he got up from the tub. "Get the hell out of here!" Bull stumbled and Dorian's hands shot out to steady him and eased him down to the edge of the tub.

Dorian shook his head as he looked at the human, an idea popped into his head and a small smirk curled his lips. "I understand," he hummed, "it probably wasn't interesting anyway." He stepped away with a shrug. "A man found dead in a sex club downtown, guess they'll have to solve the case without us." He turned his back on the human hearing him shuffle around and the drip of the water.

"You know," Bull grunted pressing a hand to his stomach, "probably wouldn't do me any harm to get some air." He waved his hand, "there's some clothes in the bedroom there."

The android smirked as he nodded, "I'll go get them." He turned on his heel and headed into the bedroom, he took in the disarray of the bed arching a brow at the restraints that were peaking out from the bed. An unhelpful scan of BDSM and quick tips and guides found their way into Dorian's eyes and he shook them all away. He moved to the closet, his brow rising as he looked through some of the more...colorful shirts. He shook his head as he selected a pair of dark jeans, a long black jacket, and a dark blue with pink flower print shirt. Dorian walked back into the bathroom to see Bull bent over the toilet and he carefully set the articles of clothing on the counter. "Are you alright Lieutenant?"

"Yeah, yeah," Bull rumbled waving him off. "Wonderful. Just, uh, give me a few ok?"

"Sure," Dorian said softly as he slowly left the bathroom shutting the door behind him. He glanced around the humans home, signs of his drinking everywhere along with takeout boxes. He moved through the Livingroom slowly, stopping as he caught sight of an old record player and lifted up the record jacket that rested on top. A small smile curled his lips as the type of music completely clashed with what Bull normally played in the car but it all still seemed so very much the human. He moved to the kitchen, the smile slipping as he saw the evidence of a man so far into depression and pain that he would look for a way out. A photo lay on the table face down and his hand reached out to pull it up. He saw Bull with a younger man, the Lieutenant grinning wide and happy as his hand rested atop a mop of dark brunette hair and dark, soulful eyes; a scan leading it to be a young man by the name of Cremisius Aclassi-Vega, who had died at the age of 19. Dorian set the photo back where he found it and his mind moved at top speed to pick up anything he could finding an obituary as well as a news article. Dorian scanned the article and felt something squeeze around his very core, Bull and his adopted son were on their way home from celebrating and they had hit a patch of ice on an unseasonably cold October night. Cremisius was killed in the accident and Bull had survived with the help of cybernetics. Something wet fell to Dorian's hand and he lifted it to his cheek to feel something wet on his cheek; he pulled his hand away and looked at the liquid on his hand. He moved over to where the gun still lay on the floor and he picked it up, hoping that his initial scan was wrong. "What were you doing with this gun Lieutenant?" He called.

"Russian Roulette!" Bull called over the rush of the shower, "wanted to see how long I could last! Must've collapsed before I found out."

Dorian opened the chamber and looked, a frown plucking at his lips. "You were lucky, the next shot would have killed you." He stood up as he heard footsteps and turned to see Bull walking out looking relitivly normal, though there was a slight sway to his steps. 

"Be a good dog, Tama, I won't be long." He muttered, giving the girl a pat to her head.

"Are you in any state to drive Lieutenant?" Dorian asked, following the other man out of the house.

"I'm fuckin fine!" Bull groused, fishing the keys out of his pocket. He glanced back to see Dorian eyeing him and he glared. "What's that look for?"

"I don't enjoy the idea of escaping death via deviant for death via intoxicated human. Does your car have the auto-drive features?"

"Shit no," Bull snorted then rolled his eyes. "Fine if you're so damned worried you fuckin drive." He tossed the keys to Dorian who caught them midair and looked at them in his palm. "You know how to drive?"

Dorian's LED flashed yellow, "I do now."

"Wonderful," Bull mumbled as he rolled his eyes, he dropped down into passenger seat as he watched Dorian walk around the car. He could still remember the taste of the android on his lips, surprisingly it wasn't something that was awful. He wanted to open his mouth to apologize but the words stuck on his tongue; he simply grunted as Dorian instructed him to put on his seatbelt. The human knew he was in for a long night and he groaned as he felt the telltale signs of a hangover coming on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we are, the start of Dorian's dear deviancy. Man Halward is a dick even as a program floating around in Dorian's mind isn't he?
> 
> Also no one kill me for the Krem thing...I basically took the worst possible thing I could think of that would drive Bull down Hanks path and that was what came up to me. Sorry?
> 
> Comments and Kudos are love ya'll.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sips tea*Well...you're still here...probably
> 
> Again...I apologize for what I've done to Krem...it's only going to get worse and it was the worst thing I could think of to drive Bull down Hank Andersons path.

Bull groaned as they pulled up to the club, squinting at the neon lights as he rubbed his temples. "Aw...fuck! Feels like someones playing with a drill inside my skull." He squinted out of the window, missing the way Dorian's LED cycled yellow and his lips pulled into a worried frown. "You sure this is the place?"

"It's the address in the report," Dorian said softly, not wanting to upset the human's headache further.

"Right," Bull grunted, "ok...yeah let's get going." Dorian watched with mild amusement as the Lieutenant struggled to right himself out of the car, cursing and muttering the whole way. Dorian followed behind Bull, ready to steady him if he needed it but Bull seemed to pull a mask over his inebriation as he walked to the club entrance. "'Sexiest androids in town'...well now I know why you wanted to come," he snorted shaking his head and immediately regretting it. "Jesus Christ."

Dorian's eyes adjusted to the lowlight of the club and he paused as he took in the androids shifting and swaying behind the glass, a shiver of something ran through his system as he stopped at a curly headed blonde one, a coy smile curling its lips as its amber eyes glittered in the low violet light. 

"Dorian! The fuck you doin'?" Bull growled snapping Dorian's attention back to him.

"Coming Lieutenant."

"You wish," Bull mumbled shaking his head and grunting at the sharp sting of pain. He blinked as he watched Dorian slowly walk to him, interested in the way that Dorian's eyes seemed to be drawn to the more...male figures in the club. _Way to drunk for that line of thought_, he thought to himself as he turned back to see the club owner talking to one of the uniforms, "how's it going Thom?" He muttered.

"Hey Bull," the scruffy human muttered, shaking his head. "It's that room there and uh...watch out Sera's in there...she's in rare form."

"Oh great," Bull groaned. "A dead body and an asshole...just what I needed." Bull frowned, he and Sera had been friends once but over the last three years it had driven a wedge between the two of them and her anger lashed out more and more. It all came down to how he handled losing what he had, hell in his spiraling he was surprised that Adaar covered his ass as much as he had and that he even still had his rank and job. He heard movement to his side and he stiffened remembering that Dorian was there and bits of earlier in the evening began to play out in his mind. _Well fuck me,_ he wanted to find a place to duck his head and just lose himself in the bottle again but now he was dragged out into a job and needed to do that first. He motioned for Dorian to follow him, the door sliding open and he saw Sera nudging lightly at the android sprawled out on the floor while Rocky took photos and notes.

"Wot, Lieutenant Bull and his plastic pet? Tha fuck ya doin' here?"

"We've been assigned all cases involving androids," Bull couldn't help but notice the note of irritation in Dorian's voice and his brow furrowed.

"Yeah?" Sera arched a brow, "big wastea time that is. Just some knob who got more than he could handle." She snickered.

"We're gonna look anyway, if ya don't mind." Bull rumbled sarcastically.

Sera scoffed motioning to the other cop. "Let's go," she began to walk past Bull, waving her hand in front of her face. "it's starting to smell like booze." Her shoulder slammed hard into Dorian, making the android stumble a bit.

Rocky sighed as he tipped his hat to Bull, "night Lieutenant." 

Bull shook his head as he gave Rocky a pat to his shoulder, watching the two leave the room. Sera's anger was somewhat right, he really should watch his drinking but the pain was to much most days and it eased him through the day. He scrubbed a hand over his face and counted to ten in his head before he opened his eyes and saw Dorian looking at the door, his LED swirling yellow. "Hey, don't take her to seriously. She's an asshole to pretty much everyone."

"It's...fine Lieutenant." Dorian said carefully, his LED still swirling as he turned to look in the room. "Let's...just have a look." Dorian was disturbed by the way the younger officer treated Bull. Yes the man was drunk, but clearly there was an underlying problem and it didn't settle right with the android. Especially not with what he had seen and uncovered in the man's house; something deep in Dorian's biocomponants tightened at the thoughts and he quickly shook them away. Dorian stepped over to the android sprawled on the ground, blue blood was dripping from her nose. He crouched down, his fingers swiping through the blood and lifting to his mouth.

"Whoa! Hey! Hey! Hey! Argh, Dorian, you're so disgusting!" Bull groaned pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. "I think I'm going to puke again."

The android snorted as he let the analysis run. "A WR400 or 'Ellana' model." He mumbled as he let the skin retract from his hand and gently touched her temple; several points of damage with two major biocomponants were critically damaged. He sighed softly as he stood up, a frown on his face as he looked her over; her pale skin rosey under the lights and her emerald eyes gazing unseeingly across the room as her midnight hair pooled like ink on the carpet. He turned away from her, an uncomfortable crawling along his skin at the thought of the dead android and how she came to be here. He paused as he thought on the analys of her, realizing he was not letting her fall into the category of thing and even in his own mind referring to her as a 'her' instead of an 'it'. Dorian shook his head to clear it and he huffed, it was not a thought for the moment and he had a case to solve. he crouched by the bed where the human was sprawled, a scan telling Dorian that he had died due to strangulation and not a heart attack. "This wasn't a heart attack Lieutenant." He said.

"Caught that did ya?" Bull muttered as he looked over the 'party favors' in the room. "Saw the bruising on the neck, course that doesn't mean anything could be some rough play that got out of hand."

Dorian's mind thought back to the house; Bull seemed well versed in 'rough play' as he deemed it. If the mannerisms of the human as well as the bondage gear on the bed were anything to go by. "We're missing something." Dorian growled in frustration as he raked his fingers through his hair.

"Can't you just read the androids mind?" Bull asked watching the very human mannerisms from Dorian. He swallowed down the want to reach out and tug the plastic pricks hands out of that dark locks and force him to relax. "Some Vulcan mind meld or some shit?" A snort left Dorian, sounding more human than it had any right to, reminding Bull of soft lips and an elegant hand over his heart. 

"I can try," Dorian carefully lifted her (_its_ he corrected himself) wrist. The skin of his hand retracted as he pressed two fingers against her, a lost popped up and he shook his head. "The only way to access her-_its_-memory is to reactivate it."

Bull's brow arched at the slip, something nagging at the back of his mind. "Can you do it?"

Dorian's hand carefully laid over the sexbots stomach. "Its badly damaged. If I can it'll only be for a minute, maybe less. Pray it's long enough to learn something. Bull watched in fascination as Dorian set to work, his careful hands snapping parts together. the Ellana woke up with a gasp and scrambled back, the human feeling a pang of sympathy in his chest. That was fear on her face, real palpable fear, and Bull wanted to soothe it. Dorian carefully stepped forward, his hand hovering as he crouched down in front of her. "You were damaged. I reactivated you, everything is alright." His voice was pitched low, soothing as he saw her eyes flit around before landing on the body. She was an artificial person yet the way she gazed at the dead human was the same as any woman suffering from sexual assault. He felt something slam into his coding, almost like a raging tiger clawing at the walls of his core and wanting out. He shook his head and turned his full attention back to her watching as her lips worked.

"Is...is he...dead?" Her voice was delicate, cultured, to Bull it sounded like a voice for a teacher or a psychologist.

"Please, tell me what happened." Dorian said, drawing her attention to him.

"He started...hitting me....again and again." A sob bubbled up from her throat as her eyes took on a wet look. "I begged him to stop! But he wouldn't."

"Did you kill him?" Dorian saw the time ticking and he needed the answers.

"No! No it wasn't me."

"Were you alone? Did he have only you?"

Her panicked breathing picked up. "H-he wanted to play with two girls. That's what he said so there was two of us."

"What model was the other android? Did it look like you?" Dorian demanded watching as her face went slack and the light left her eyes. With a muttered curse he pushed himself up to his feet.

"So," Bull rumbled behind him. "There was another android. This happened over an hour ago, probably long gone by now."

Dorian scoffed as he tugged impatiently at his tie. "Honestly Bull," The android was turned away and didn't see the bemused look come over the humans face at such a casual use of his name. "Could it have gone out dressed like that?" He motioned to the motionless android.

The human hummed as he considered this, trying (and failing) to not look at the dip of Dorian's throat. "Think you can find a deviant with all the other androids in this place?"

"Deviants aren't easily detected Lieutenant."

"Well...shit." Bull scratched at his chin. "Gotta be some way. Eye witnesses? Someone had to have seen it leave the room." Bull muttered something about going to talk to the manager.

Dorian stood over the Ellana, a frown on his lips at the irrational need to lay her comfortably and cover her. He shook the thought away and vowed not to let Halward see that thought process when he reported to Cyberlife. Dorian walked out into the club, hearing Bull's low rumble as he talked to the manager but ultimately ignoring it as he walked over to an Ellana in a case. She smiled at him, this ones eyes a deep blue instead of the green of the dead one in the room, Dorian's eyes drifted and he saw she had an unbroken line to the room and an idea popped into his head. He pressed his hand to the scanner but frowned as it demanded fingerprints. He looked at his hand and huffed as he made his way back to Bull. "Excuse me Lieutenant," Dorian said, breaking the conversation. "Can you come here a second?"

"Found something?"

"Maybe..." Dorian motioned for him to follow as he lead the way over to the Ellana. "Can you rent this Ellana?"

"For fucks sake Dorian," Bull groaned scrubbing a hand over his face. "We have better things to do." He growled as he turned away only to have his wrist grabbed by Dorian.

"Please Lieutenant. Just trust me."

Bull let out a low growl as he stepped back, typing into the keypad and arching his eyebrow at the price. He turned to look back at Dorian who nodded and he shook his head pressing his hand to the scanner. "This is not gonna look good on my expence account. Adaars really gonna bust my balls for this." His lips quirked as he caught the small huff of laughter from Dorian.

"Purchase confirmed," a mechanical voice said smoothly. "Eden club thanks you for your purchase."

"Yeah, yeah you're welcome." Bull mumbled, watching the Ellana step down a coy smile on her face as she twirled a lock of shocking red hair around her finger. He bit back the burn of arousal, he always had a weakness for redheads.

"Delighted to meet you," She fluttered her lashes at him. "Follow me." Her hand reached out for Bull but Dorian stopped her. He took her arm, his skin peeling back as he locked eyes with her.

"Holy shit, Dorian what are you doing?" Bull asked.

Dorian blinked as he quickly let her go. "It saw something." He gasped

"What are you talking about? Saw what?"

"The deviant leave the room, a blue-haired Ellana. Club's policy is to wipe android memory every two hours. We only have a few minutes if we wanna find another witness." Dorian made a beeline for another android, turning pleading eyes to Bull who simply groaned and made another purchase. The human trailing after the android as he bounced form spot to spot but still establishing a pattern that lead them to the blue room. Dorian gazed around and stepped up to another android. "This one, he must have seen something." He said looking into the deep dark eyes of the model before him. 

"This has gotta be the most expensive investigation of my career!" Bull rumbled as he rented yet another callboy.

Dorian interfaced with the android watching through it's eyes and whirling to a door. "I know where it went! Follow me!"

"Fuckin-A this is crazy!" Bull grumbled as Dorian made a door open and he lead the human down the hall. "Wait," he barked as Dorian went to open a door. "I'll take it from here." He gently pulled Dorian back, his hand drawing his gun as he looked at the door. They carefully made their way into the storage, Bull trying not to be creeped out with the androids that were simply standing there. "Shit...we're to late!" Bull growled as he made his way to an open door.

Dorian's brow furrowed, there was no way he was wrong. He knew the Ellana had to be there, he carefully picked his way through the clusters of androids scanning as he went until a flash of yellow caught his eye. His brow furrowed as he turned, catching sight of the blue-haired Ellana, as he opened his mouth he was tackled by a different model. He heard the scuffle of Bull's boots and caught sight of Bull holding his gun up.

"Don't move!" He yelled pointing to the android, a flash of blue had the Ellana tackling the human with a shout.

Dorian gripped the arms of the android he was tussling with and he threw her over a stack following her. She had grabbed a screwdriver, Dorian falling back to stop her from stabbing him in the eye. Eventually the fight lead them out into the rain and Dorian found himself on his back, dazed as the back of his head smacked into the pavement. He shook the warnings from his eyes as he saw the two androids clasp hands, making a run for the fence.

"They're getting away!" Bull roared spurring Dorian to his feet.

The android rushed forward and grabbed the blue-haired Ellana around the waist, bodily hauling her from the fence and throwing her back. He grunted as the second collided into his back knocking him off balance. He managed to shove her back only to have the blue-haired one aim a sharp heel to his knee. Soon Dorian found himself on the ground, his hand scrambling for the gun he saw there and he rolled to his knee aiming. His finger hesitated on the trigger and he let the gun drop, the Ellana and her companion stopping before him as they panted.

Dorian stood up as the blue-haired Ellana looked at him. "When that man...broke the other Ellana. I knew I was next." Her LED cycled yellow as her voice trembled. "I begged him to stop, but he wouldn't. And so I put my hands around his throat and I squeezed, until he stopped moving. I didn't mean to kill him!" She whispered, the other android sliding up behind her. "I just wanted to stay alive...get back to the one I love." His eyes went wide as their hands easily slid together, his jaw going a little slack. "I wanted her to hold me in her arms again, make me forget about the humans. Their smell of sweat and their dirty words," she cast a scathing glare at Bull as he walked up.

"C'mon," the other said softly. "Let's go."

Dorian's LED cycled a rapid yellow as they watched the two girls scale the fence. Bull grunted as he watched them take off, "probably better this way." He said as he walked off, Dorian's eyes not leaving the alley the two girls disappeared from as his mind raced with all the thoughts he had. He turned as he followed the human, not knowing how to process anything that just happened.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Grab your popcorn folks, here's where Dorians questionable decision making skills and his mouth gets him in trouble like we all know and love of this idiot.

Dorian sat in the car as Bull grabbed a sixpack out of the back of the car, getting out and walking to a bench that overlooked the city line. Music sounded in the car but Dorian's mind was still on the Ellana and her lover, the club and how it operated, and the dead human sprawled out on the bed. He sighed as he opened the door to the car, stepping out as he carefully made his way over to where Bull sat. He stepped up to Bull and watched as the other man glanced over at him. "Nice view huh? Used to come here a lot before..." The sentence hung unfinished as Bull took a long pull from his bottle.

"Can I...ask you a personal question, Lieutenant?"

Bull snorted around the mouth of the bottle, "do all androids ask so many personal questions or is it just you?"

Dorian chewed on his lip, "I saw...a photo on your table...he was your son right?"

Bull's face pulled into a hard mask of pain, "yeah...his name was Krem...Cremisius but I called him Krem."

Dorian didn't want to push further, his heart aching as his head spun with everything that had happened in the few short days he had been with the human. His lips still tingled from the kiss in the bathroom and he rubbed his hands over his arms, a useless movement since he didn't feel cold. "Before what?" 

"Hm?"

"You said: 'I used to come here a lot before'. Before what?"

"Before...before nothing." Bull refused to look at him as he drained a bottle and reached for a second one.

Dorian walked head, his hands braced on his hips as he kicked at snow. "We're not making any progress on this investigation. The deviants have nothing in common! They're all different models, produced at different times in different places."

"Well there must be some link."

"What they have in common," Dorian said softly, "is this obsession with rA9. It's almost like some kind of...myth. Something invented that wasn't part of their original program."

"Androids believing in God." Bull grunted, "fuck what's this world coming to?"

Dorian glanced back at the human. "you seem preoccupied Lieutenant." He stepped closer, his arms falling to his sides. "Is it something to do with what happened back at Eden Club?"

Bull looks down at the bottle in his hands, thumbnail picking at the label. "Those two girls, they just wanted to be together. They really seemed...in love."

Dorian's brow furrowed. "They can...simulate human emotions but they're machines." He swallowed harshly. "And machines don't...**feel** anything." His voice hitched but he believed it to be true...didn't he?

The human set the bottle down with a clink. "What about you Dorian?" He pushed himself up, stumbling a bit between the drinks and the cold seeping into his artificial joints in his leg. "You look human, you sound human, but what are you really?"

Dorian blinked, the question bouncing around in his head, his thirium pump jolted, creating a tight pressure in his chest that he couldn't explain. So much had changed since he was first activated, Daniel, the HK400 in the attic, Michel, most of all the kiss with Bull. All of it had changed something in him, something he couldn't place and it all explained the looks on Halward's face with every interaction, the insistence that he push to find the deviants. "I am...whatever you want me to be Lieutenant. Your partner," he took a careful step forward. "Your buddy to drink with," another step as he lifted his eyes, looking up at Bull from under his lashes. "A brat for you to tame and warm you when you get cold."

Bull froze as the snow settled on his scalp, those words causing a roaring inferno in his head. He flexed his fingers against the roar of want, the kiss flashing by in his mind as desire he long thought dead woke back up. Bull himself was a pretty open guy; more concerned about who a person was rather than what they were packing in their pants, though he had a strong preference for redheads. "Ain't been 'brat taming' in a long while." He rumbled, voice pitched low and coming from somewhere deep in his chest.

"Clearly," Dorian huffed as his mercurial eyes drifted over Bull and seeming to linger on his hands. He lifted his own eyes again to see the human eyeing him wearily. "Or I can be just a machine, designed to accomplish a task." He stood nearly toe to toe with the human watching his breaths puff out into the cold night air.

Bull growled as he swayed closer, "you could have shot those two girls, Dorian, why didn't you shoot?" He shoved forward making the android sway. "Hm? Some scruples suddenly enter into your program?"

"No..." Dorian's voice wavered as a gust of wind flapped through his jacket. "I just...decided not to shoot. That's all." His eyes widened as Bull drew a gun, pointing right at his forehead. Warnings popped up in his vision and he suppressed a shudder that threatened to run rampant. 

"But the big question is, are you afraid to die Dorian?"

"I would certainly find it regrettable to be...interrupted before I can finish this investigation." Deep down Dorian wanted answers, he wanted to know why this was happening, why he was feeling what he was feeling.

"What will happen if I pull this trigger?" Bull rumbled. He wanted to push the android, to see what he had been seeing, to see if there was something real under all that plastic. "Hm? Nothing? Oblivion?" He smirked, "android heaven?"

"I doubt there's a heaven for androids"

"Having existential doubts, Dorian?" Bull eyed him up and down, his eyes landing on the full pout of Dorian's mouth. "Sure you aren't going deviant too?"

Dorian's mouth pulled tight, "I self test regularly. I know what I am...and what I am not."

Bull's hand wavered before he dropped the gun with a sigh. He shook his head as he tucked the damned thing away, his eyes lifting as he looked at Dorian again. He saw something lingering in those eyes and it made something akin to desire churn in the humans gut. "Fuck it." He growled as he reached forward and dragged the android to him, his lips claiming the others roughly. He growled in approval as Dorian's fingers curled in his jacket and he pressed close to the other body. Dorian's lips were cool but smooth in a way that Bull would never get from a human, his hand slipped down and he was shocked at the supple but firm curve of Dorian's ass and even more shocked to feel the curve of a cock against his thigh as he slid it between Dorian's legs. The shock to his system came from feeling it completely flaccid, driving home that Dorian wasn't human and that he couldn't make a choice. Bull ripped away and turned back to the bottles, picking them up. 

Dorian blinked, a hand lifting to his lips as his thirium pump trembled. "W-where are you going?"

"To get drunker," Bull growled. "I need to fuckin think."

Dorian watched him go, something breaking deep in his code as he locked away some of his memories hoping against something that Halward would not find out. 

~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~

Dorian blinked rapidly, taking in the lowlight of the library around him. A fire roaring and casting the room in shadowed light, the flickers playing over Halward as he sat in a chair, a book held open on his knee as he swirled a glass of sherry. Dorian carefully walked over and Halward looked up from his book, "hello Dorian, I thought you might enjoy a more...relaxed setting." He watched carefully as Dorian sat down and he turned the page in his book. "I love this place, it's so calm and peaceful among the books and the fire. Far removed from the noise of the world." The silence stretched on and he took in Dorian's shoulders and clenched hands. "Tell me, what have you discovered?"

"I found two deviants at Eden Club. I had hoped to learn something but...they managed to...escape."

"That's to bad..." Halward mulled the words over, looking into his glass. "You seemed so close to stopping them."

Dorian fell silent as he leaned forward, his chin resting against his clasped hands. His mind tracking over everything he had seen since starting the deviant cases and his mind trying to stray to the Lieutenant. He frowned as he gazed into the fire, Halward clearing his throat snapping his eyes back to the elder.

"You seem...lost Dorian." His gaze turned searching as it bounced over Dorian's face. "Lost and perturbed."

"I thought...I thought I knew what I had to do but now I realize it's not that simple." He clenched his hands tightly, nails digging into the backs of his palms.

"You had your gun trained on those deviants at the Eden Club." Halward said, smoothly. Dorian felt the memory forced to the front of his mind and he flinched away, seeing it again. Seeing the Ellana model tell her story, of their clasped hands and pleading eyes. "Why didn't you shoot?"

"I..don't know." He said softly as his head came up. "I don't know." His voice came out stronger, he got up and stood by the fire, his fingers drumming against the mantle. 

Halward frowned after him, his book snapping closed. "If your investigation does not make progress soon, I may have to replace you Dorian."

Dorian grit his teeth, refusing to turn around. "I know I will succeed. All I need is time."

Halward looked up as something rippled through the very air, his brow furrowing. "Something is happening Dorian, you need to hurry before time runs out."

Dorian nodded as he turned back, opening the doors without a second glance.

~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~

Dorian blinked back to awareness, his fingers trembling as he flexed them. His code ran rampant as he tried to think through the panic, he knew Halward had access to his memories that all of Cyberlife could tap into his mind. He pulled his coin from his pocket as the message from DPD flashed over his eyes, a moment later a call from Bull came through. "Lieutenant?"

"_You get enough beauty sleep?"_ Bull's voice was a rumble over the sea and it soothed something inside of the android.

"I don't sleep."

"_Course you don't. Need a lift to Straford Tower?"_

"I...would like that Lieutenant."

"_Good, that's...good. Let me know where to grab you."_ Bull shut down the call without a good-bye and Dorian couldn't help the small smile at the gruff manner of the man. He pulled himself from his stasis station and moved to the small closet he had, pulling out his suit and quickly dressing for the day. He played over Bull's question from the previous night as he looked himself over in the mirror, styling his hair and mustache. He left his room at the Cyberlife distribution center and made his way down to wait for the human, his blood thrumming with the need to start the new cycle of the investigation.


	9. Chapter 9

Bull hummed along to the soft jazz music that was playing as he navigated the streets of Detroit. He wasn't as hungover as he normally was surprisingly, his kiss with Dorian at the bridge fueled him in a different way and he had gone to bed with his dick out for the first time in a very long time. He pulled up to where Dorian had said to pick him up, a smile trying to fight its way to the surface as the android pulled the door open and slid into the passanger seat. Snow dusted his suit jacket and his hair but quickly turned to water that slid enticingly down his jawline. "Shit you must be freezing," Bull reached over to crank up the heat, angling a vent to the man.

"I don't..." Dorian sighed as the heat hit his hands, a warning popped up that he swiped away. A small smile turned his lips as he flexed his fingers. "Thank you, Lieutenant."

"You really should be wearing something warmer, some gloves or something." Bull leaned back in his seat taking a moment to watch the snow. "These Detroit winters can be fucking brutal. I might have a pair of extra gloves in the glove compartment."

"Is there...something on your mind Lieutenant?" Dorian asked softly, his own mind churning with the talk with Halward, the events over the last few days and the warnings he kept getting about software instabilities. Bull's kindness was a balm that Dorian didn't know he needed, he felt himself preen under the attention of the human as his hands warmed from the hot air. He found himself...enjoying being the focus of his attention, something he had only seen the human give when he was looking at evidence or a crime scene. 

"Nah...well yeah," Bull grunted as he flexed his fingers around the grips of the steering wheel. "I've been a fuckin asshole since you came to DPD."

"Not everyone can be...comfortable with androids Lieutenant-"

"When it's just you and me like this...just call me Bull. I've been a fuckin dick and that's not...it's not something I enjoy. Shit hasn't been right since I...lost Krem."

Dorian was silent for a moment, almost at a loss for words. A quick scan of the human told him that he was clean of the previous drinking and he was wondering just how much the man had to drink when he went home. "I don't...wish to pry, Bull." The name of the man was a heavy weight on his tongue but Dorian found he enjoyed it. 

"I haven't worked with a partner in a long time Dorian, the last one was Sera and she went off the rails when I fell into the bottle." Bull sighed as he pulled out into traffic, easing their way through Detroit. "Having you around though, it's kinda helped me focus."

Dorian arched an eyebrow at him, "you were drunk off your ass Bull."

Bull barked a laugh, "yeah before your peacocking ass broke through my window."

"Peacocking!" Dorian squawked in outrage.

"You're a peacock Dorian, a fuckin pretty one, but a peacock none the less. But...I guess you're alright."

Dorian blinked slowly as he looked at the man, catching the small quirk of his lips and he huffed. "Bull...when you kissed me-"

"Shit,"

"You were hoping to avoid that." Dorian said it softly.

"I shouldn't have done it Dorian," Bull sighed. "Humans get stupid when they drink, I shouldn't have tried to-"

"I liked it." Dorian admitted softly, his fingers curling into the fabric of his pants. Another instance of 'software instability' flashed before his eyes and he angrily swiped it away.

"You...what?"

"I would like if you did it again." Dorian yelped as the car jerked and he saw Bull's knuckles go white on the steering wheel.

"Fuck, if we didn't have a crime scene to get to we would be having a very long talk right now." Bull blew out a slow breath as they pulled up to Stratford Tower. He watched as a few people milled around and he reached out to grab Dorian before he could dip out of the car. "We're gonna talk about this, really fuckin talk. Am I understood?"

Dorian felt something within him tremble at the commanding tone Bull used, his face turning to see Bull watching him carefully. Mercurial eyes dipped down to Bulls lips and he nodded. "I...I want to Lieutenant."

Bull grunted as he gave a curt nod, his own eyes straying to Dorian's lips before flicking out the window. "Fuck it." He growled as one of his large hands came up to wrap around the back of the android's neck and he hauled him forward, claming his lips without a second thought. Dorian felt warmer this time around, more responsive as his lips moved against Bull's. The human pulled back with a small groan, sitting back in his seat as he let the android go a smug smile pulling at his lips at the slightly dazed look on Dorian's face. "Didn't know Androids could get that look." He barked a laugh as he opened his door, sliding out and pulling his coat tighter around him at the rush of cold Detroit air. He heard the passenger door open and the two of them made their way into the building and took the elevator up. Bull folded his arms over his chest, tapping his foot along to the music in his head as they made the long trek up, a flash of silver catching his eye along with the soft clink of metal hitting against something harder than bone. He glanced over to see Dorian skillfully balancing a coin as it spun and bounced over his fingers, a quick flick and it flew to his other hand and Bull's large once closed over his. "Startin to piss me off with that damned coin Dorian." He rumbled.

"Sorry Lieutenant," Dorian mumbled, not sounding very sorry at all, his mind was still rolling over the kiss in the car and the coin had been helping him catalogue his responses. He wanted it to happen again, he found that he actually wanted that and so much more.

"79th floor," the elevator chimed happily as the doors opened.

Bull gave a low whistle as he saw uniforms bustling about, a muttered 'Hey' from a uniform drew Bull's eyes. "Shit, what's going on here? There's a party and no body told me about it?"

The uniform scotted, "yeah it's all over the news so everybody's buttin their nose in. Even the FBI want a piece of the action."

Bull groaned, "ah Christ, now we got the Feds on our back...I knew this was gonna be a shitty day. So what do we got?" He motioned for Dorian to follow after him as they were given the rundown.

"A group of four androids, knew the building and were well organized. We're still trying to figure out how they got this far without being noticed." Dorian listened carefully, keeping close to Bull as he heard the chatter around him as his processors picked up clues and he began to construct what to do next. "They attacked two guards in the hallway. Probably thought the andoirds were coming to do maintenance, they got taken down before they could react. One of the station employees managed to get away, he's in shock not sure when we'll be able to talk to him."

Bull looked around, shocked to not see any bodies. "How many were working here?"

"Three androids and two humans. Devaints took the humans hostage and broadcasted their message live. They made their getaway from the roof."

"The roof?"

"They jumped with parachutes, we're still trying to figure out where they landed but the weathers not helping. If you wanna take a look at the video broadcast by the deviants, it's on that screen over there."

Bull nodded for Dorian to follow him, the two of them carefully stepping into the main broadcast room. They saw a man with his hands behind his back, Bull glanced back to Dorian who shrugged his shoulders when the uniformed officer spoke up. "Lieutenant this is Speical Agent Erimond from the FBI. Lieutenant Bull...erm Vega is in charge of investigating for Detroit Police."

Erimond scoffed softly as he caught sight of Dorian. "What's that?"

"My name is Dorian, I'm the android sent by Cyberlife."

"Androids investigating androids, huh? You sure you want it hanging around? After everything that happened?" He arched a brow, earning an unimpressed look from Bull in return. "Whatever, the FBI will take over the investigation, you'll soon be off the case."

Bull snorted, "pleasure meeting you, have a nice day."

Erimond sneered at him. "You better watch your step, don't fuck up my crime scene." He turned with a flourish as he stalked out of the room and Bull glared after him.

"What a fuckin' prick!" His lips quirked as he heard Dorian's quiet huff of laughter behind him. "Let's have a look around let me know if you find anything big guy."

"Ok, Lieutenant." Dorian said softly as he moved to the console. He lifted his eyes to the screen as he let the message play. The android's synthskin was retracted leaving the cold white and grey of it's chassis showing.

"_We ask that you recognize our dignity, our hopes, and our rights. Together, we can live in peace and build a better future, for humans and androids. This message is the hope of a people. You gave us life and now the time has come for you to give us freedom."_

The words ran through Dorian's core and he felt Bull's warmth at his side. "Think that's rA9?" The human rumbled.

"The Deviants say rA9 will set them free," Dorian said softly, his eyes flickering over the screen as he took in details. "This android seems to have that objective." His eyes fell to the serial number, a stab of something in his chest as he found it was an RK200; the name registered as 'Maxwell' and it was a gift from Vivienne de Fer to Justinia Valence.

"See something?" Bull asked softly.

"I identified it's model and serial number..."

"Anything else I should know?" Bull arched a brow at the silence and watched as Dorian seemed to shake himself.

"No...nothing." He shook his head as he turned away going to the smaller security station and pulling up the video. He watched as the deviants made their way easily into the room, harming no one they came into contact with and his mind flashed to the information of them letting the human run to call the authorities. He found bits of uniforms, a clearer picture in his mind of how they got in and what their intended purpose was. He found blue blood splattered on the wall, taking a sample and smiling softly at the small grumble that came from the human. He moved his way around the room, stopping as he stood behind the main console and his mind created what he saw reflected in the RK200's eye. He stopped by the CCTV footage and reviewed it again and his brow furrowed. "They didn't break in?"

"No, no signs of forced entry."

"There are cameras in the hallway. The staff would have seen them in the hallway, why did they let them in?" Dorian cast a look at Bull who shrugged.

"Maybe they didn't check the cameras."

Dorian shook his head as he tapped his fingers to his thigh and turned to the console again, ppausing as he spun the chair and stopped as he saw the word 'ANDROID' printed across the back. "We stored the station androids in the kitchen," an officer said. "There's no evidence that theyre involved but we didn't know what else to do with them."

Dorian nodded as he stepped back making his way to the kitchen only to stop at a bright eager young cop that stepped forward. "H-hey, remember me? From the Terrace, the android that look the little girl hostage. I was shot...you saved me."

Dorian's brow furrowed as he looked the cop over. "I remember you."

"I could have died that night, you saved my life let me go home to my kid. Never thought I'd say this to an android...but thank you."

Dorian smiled softly and nodded his head watching as the cop walked off. He caught Bull looking at him and shrugged his shoulders as he walked into the kitchen where he saw three identical androids standing by the far counter. He walked forward, looking at each one in turn. He turned to the last one and folded his hands behind his back. "State your model and serial number."

"Model JB300, serial number 336-445-581."

"What is your function?"

"I am a broadcast operator."

Dorian tapped his finger to his chin as he nodded as he ran through a series of questions, trying to find the deviant hiding among the operators. The questions were met with standard answers and Dorian frowned. "One of you saw the attack on the surveillance cameras and said nothing, which means there is a deviant in this room and I am going to find out which it is." He growled as he prowled among the three. He paused before the middle one and folded his arms over his chest. "Why should you all be destroyed, if only one is deviant? Turn yourself in or two innocent androids will be shut down because of you." Nothing was said and Dorian turned his attention to the furthest one, stepping closer to it. "You are going to be shut off," he snarled. "We're going to search your memory and tear you apart, piece by piece for analysis. You are going to be destroyed! Do you hear me? Destroyed!" He yelled, frustration bubbling up as Halward's threat echoed in his own mind. Dorian's teeth ground as he stepped back, blowing out a small breath. "If you give yourself up, maybe I can convince the humans not to destroy you." He shook his head and turned to the middle android again, his hand shot out with the intention to probe it and he gaped as it came back with no memory. He snorted as he moved to the furthest one, snapping open it's shirt and pulling out a biocomponent. "Biocomponant #8451, regulates the heartbeat and without it...well you'll shut down in exactly 63 seconds wont you?" He waved it around with a shrug, "I could put it back, but you'll have to tell me the truth first. Are. You. The Deviant?" He watched as the android's eyes fluttered and he shook his head as he replaced the part.

In a flash hands came up in his coat and Dorian bit back a yell as he was shoved back into another counter, his hand coming up to grip the deviant's wrist as it gripped his own regulator through his shirt. It ripped the regulator out and Dorian gasped as warnings flashed in front of his eyes, he registered the _shickt_ of a knife against a table and a flash warning of something piercing through his hand and pinning him to the table. He gasped as he watched through greying vision as the deviant backed up from him. "Bull..." Dorian gasped. "Bull...I need help," his voice was weak to his own ears as he watched the timer tick down and felt the Thirium soaking his clothing. He turned seeing the knife pinning him to the counter and reached over; with a sharp tug it came lose and he crumpled to the floor like a ragdoll. He gasped as he hit the floor and he lifted his head, seeing his pump laying on the floor. Dorian grunted softly as he forced his body to move, crawling across the floor to the pump and reaching out with a shaking hand. His fingers closed around it and he shakily fit it back into place, gasping as the warnings flashed about before his vision cleared back to color.

With a groan he pushed himself up to his knees, shaking his head, he still had a deviant to deal with. He hauled himself up and darted out the door, his slick hand sliding against the wall as he rounded the corner. He saw the humans gathered around at the end of the hall and the deviant making its way to the elevator. "Stop!" one of the human guards shouted.

"It's a deviant!" Dorian gasped as he skidded into the room. He saw the deviant grab a gun and he reached for the gun on an FBI agents belt. His lip curled into a snarl as he shot with perfect aim, watching as the deviant crumpled. He handed the gun back to a speechless human.

"Nice Shot." Bull rumbled as he helped haul a fellow officer up. 

"I wanted to take it in alive," Dorian mumbled, pausing as he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. He blinked as he looked over, mercurial eyes meeting icy blue. 

"You saved human lives, Dorian. You saved my life." He gave Dorian's shoulder a squeeze and a small smile. "c'mon let's let them tag and bag everything and let's head to get some lunch I'm starving."

"You're always hungry Lieutenant." Dorian mumbled as he looked to the dead deviant.

"I'm a growing boy," Bull laughed leading Dorian back to the elevator, his mind already churning over just what they had to talk about.


End file.
